Main Page «
Front Page «
Metro «
Business «
International «
National «
Editorial «
Op-Ed «
Home «
Timeout «
Letters «

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

The ‘big guys’ are coming says Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira of the World Cup quarter-finals which see a mouth-watering quartet of big occasion games.
   They don’t come any bigger than Brazil though and the World Cup favourites, who have yet to hit full flight, can now be expected to be tested to the full against a France team they have not beaten since 1992.
   Worse still they have gone down to defeat the last two times they have played France in the World Cup – a heart-breaking defeat on penalties in Mexico in 1986 and a 3-0 thumping in the 1998 final in Paris.
   It has been a curious Brazil so far at the World Cup.
   They have won four out of four, scored 10 and conceded just one, but still on the whole disappointed.
   Parreira, who had a similar experience before his side lifted the 1994 trophy, is aware that all is not as it should be.
   ‘We lacked consistency with our moves.
   ‘It’s one thing to have speed. It’s another thing to be in a hurry. We confused speed with hurry.
   ‘We were very hurried. We were in a hurry too often and we made a lot of mistakes.’
   The winners of Saturday’s match will go up against the winners of the tie between England and Portugal which takes place the same day in Gelsenkirchen.
   That game is being presented as the third round of a showdown between totally different managerial types, England’s cool-as-a-cucumber Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson and Portugal’s boiling Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari.
   Scolari has already won the first two rounds coaching Brazil to success over Eriksson’s England in the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals and repeating the dose in the last eight of Euro 2004.
   England have looked pedestrian so far, but have Wayne Rooney ominously getting back to top form, while Portugal are still licking their wounds from the brutal second-round game against the Netherlands in Nuremberg.
   Key midfielders Deco and Costinha are both out due to suspension, while there are fitness doubts over winger Cristiano Ronaldo.
   Deco though said he was confident the Portuguese had the experience and strength in depth to overcome that.
   ‘We have a lot of wonderful players,’ he said.
   ‘The (five) substitutes who took the field (in the 2-1 group win) against Mexico all played very well.
   ‘The players who will take our place will do a proper job.’
   In the other half of the draw, Germany take on Argentina in a match-up steeped in World Cup history that will bring the host country to a standstill on Friday.
   Coached by the ever-popular Juergen Klinsmann, the Germans are building up a mighty momentum that they hope will bring them back to Berlin on July 9 to contest the final.
   But they take on a recognised world power for the first time in Argentina and the portents are not good.
   The Germans have yet to record a win against the South American powerhouses since reunification in 1990 and
   they have not beaten a top-ranking world side since October 2000.
   Both sides have promised fireworks in the opening 15 minutes with Germany looking to get off to the same start as they have done in their four previous games.
   The winner in Berlin will take on who emerges from the late game on Friday which sees stubborn Italy take on last eight surprise packages Ukraine.
   The Italians have once again limped into the later stages of a major competition but that is when they are at their most dangerous.
   Ukraine are just happy to have got this far after suffering an opening 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Spain.

Portugal boss Luiz Felipe Scolari’s tactical blueprint for beating England was revealed last night – a 2,600-year-old Chinese military manuscript.
   ‘Big Phil’ has been devouring The Art of War by ancient Chinese general and philosopher Sun Tzu to prepare for his final showdown with Sven-Goran Eriksson.
   The Brazilian coach of England’s last eight opponents believes that Sun Tzu’s words hold the key to success in footballing battle. According to Sun Tzu, ‘all warfare is based on deception’ and Scolari has taken the message to heart as his aggressive body language on the bench sends out a very different message to his players than Eriksson’s passive approach.
   Scolari’s antics were shown graphically in the last-16 clash with Holland, as he railed at every single card handed out to his players by Russian ref Valentin Ivanov. It was all part of an act, as the Brazilian later admitted that midfielder Costinha deserved his red card.
   And the gestures of disgust aimed at Mark van Bommel’s reaction to Luis Figo’s head-butt were another smokescreen, designed to irritate Dutch counterpart Marco van Basten.
   Scolari is convinced that big matches are won in the head of the coach as much as the bodies of the players and has been focused on a quarter-final clash with England since the World Cup draw was made in Leipzig last December.
   A close friend of Scolari revealed, ‘Big Phil has always expected this would be the game he would have to play and he has been preparing for it.
   ‘The reason he reads Sun Tzu is because he believes the strategies enable him to enhance the play of each and every one of his players.
   ‘He has been reading it every night, as part of his preparation for playing England.
   ‘His belief has always been that preparation is the key to every big match. His goal is to exceed what Portugal did in 1966 and he always knew that would mean beating England in the quarter-finals.
   ‘It was one of the reasons that he could not accept the England job before the World Cup. He knew that this game was coming and realised it would be the biggest test of him and his side. He agrees with the philosophy that says the best-prepared general wins the battle.
   ‘Phil believes he will be better-prepared than Eriksson.’
   Scolari is convinced Sun Tzu’s philosophy, written in the 6th century BC, signposts the way for Portugal to beat England and for him to complete a hat-trick of tournament triumphs over Eriksson after Brazil’s victory in Shizuoka four years ago and the Euro 2004 penalty shoot-out heartbreak. Among Sun Tzu’s theories, he wrote: ‘All warfare is based on deception.
   ‘Hence, when able to attack we must seem unable, when using our forces we must seem inactive, when we are near we must make the enemy believe we are far away, when we are far away we must make them think we are near.’
   Such is his faith in The Art of War that Scolari handed a copy to every member of his Brazilian squad at the start of the 2002 Finals in the Far East. Skipper Cafu cited the book as part of the victory.
   ‘Reading it changed the way we thought of the game and of each other,’ said the right-back.
   But Australian cricket coach John Buchanan is also a disciple of the Chinese general’s methods, and Freddie Flintoff and Co still ripped the Ashes out of the Aussies’ grasp last summer.
   A fast start in Gelsenkirchen might prove decisive. After all, as Sun Tzu says: ‘Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy’s un-preparedness, travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions.’
   In English – give the ball to Rooney!
   So who will win the battle?
   Sun Tzu says that victory in any battle can be forecast by evaluating seven criteria between opposing forces. Mirror Sport recruited the Chinese warlord to analyse England v Portugal.
   Which leader is in harmony with his troops? Scolari.
   Which general has the most ability? Scolari
   Who has the most advantages in terms of fortune and the condition of his army? Eriksson.
   Which side has the most discipline? England. Which army is stronger mentally and physically? Too close to call.
   Which is the best-trained force? Portugal. Which battalion believes that success or failure will be most properly rewarded or punished? England.
   Sun Tzu says: It’s a toss-up.

German players have been used to hitting the target at this World Cup but they were faced with a different challenge on Wednesday when they tried their hand at archery.
   The team management arranged for the coach of the national archery squad to come to the team hotel and give the players instruction two days before their quarter-final against Argentina.
   ‘It’s an example of a sport where you need 100 per cent concentration,’ assistant coach Joachim Loew told reporters.
   It sounds like the players had some trouble with the change of sport.
   ‘No comment,’ was all leading striker Miroslav Klose would say on his performance. The change in activity is in keeping with Juergen Klinsmann’s determination to give the players a variety of things to do at their pre-World Cup training camps.
   During their camp in Sardinia they tried go-karting, while in Geneva the players took a day’s course in watch-making.

Brazil adopted a dangerous strategy allowing the Ghanaians too much space and luring them into their own half and the Black Stars fell into the trap giving the South Americans ample scope to counter-attack. I did not like this strategy although Brazil have all the qualities to keep their citadel safe.
   But the Brazilian defence did an excellent job blocking most of the shots. Only two of the Ghanaian attempts looked to be really dangerous. One headed effort was miraculously saved by Dida and he grabbed the other one in his second attempt.
   Ghana lacked a cool-headed finisher up front and the six first half yellow cards restricted them to do something extra. But I think Brazil will not adopt such a dangerous strategy against France in Saturday’s quarter-final. Carlos Alberto Parreira definitely was irked by the performance his players put in. For unknown reasons they were in a hurry.
   I feel delighted to see Ronaldo score his record breaking goal. The magical footwork was in sight again. Feigning to his right he moved to left with electric pace leaving the Ghanaian custodian off balance. Ronaldinho had a quiet day and Pereira in the meantime must have had some talks with his star.
   So it will be Brazil versus France in a mouth-watering clash of the World Cup on Saturday. It will be a new France in the quarter-final as I see the rebirth of a team capable of doing a lot of things. They played like a team with a new strategy. They did not solely rely on Thierry Henry for goals. Frank Ribery was in magnificent form. I read in the paper that Patrick Vieira saying that like him all the members of his team have found their rhythm.
   It was absolutely true. Zidane showed his class, Ribery showed his speed, Vieira showed his creativity as Spain after applying all the tricks up their sleeve lost the way. Looking at Zidane, Vieira, Barthez and Henry I realised what experience means at the top level. The Spanish youngsters tried their heart and soul but could succeed.
   Zidane and his men now will be full of courage and confidence against Brazil and the Brazilians have been working to spot their weaknesses that could prove helpful for success. I will enjoy the two days’ rest and refresh my mind to see some fresh actions in the crucial do-or-die matches.

Brazil football legend Mario Zagallo said on Wednesday he hoped that Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final with France would be the final match for Zinedine Zidane, his nemesis from the 1998 final.
   The 74-year-old was coach when Zidane’s brace of headers inspired the French to a 3-0 defeat of Brazil, frustrating his dreams of emulating Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo in winning the title twice as a coach - though Zagallo also won it twice as a player in 1958 and 1962.
   ‘I hope very much it will be Zidane’s last match,’ said Zagallo, who coached the 1970 winning side.
   Zagallo, who is the Brazilians’ technical co-ordinator at this World Cup, said that the match would be vastly different to the lopsided 1998 final when star striker Ronaldo was taken to hospital on the morning of the match after suffering a mysterious fit.
   ‘In 1998, we had the serious problem with Ronaldo which you all will remember.
   ‘But this time it will be a fully fit Ronaldo.’
   France have beaten Brazil on the last two occasions they have met in a World Cup finals, the 1998 final and the 1986 quarter-final where the French - in the last hurrah of the magical midfield of Michel Platini, Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana - took on Zico and Socrates and won an epic match in a penalty shootout.

Defeating underdogs Australia, especially with a dubious last minute penalty, was never going to make Italy popular but the Azzurri have not taken kindly to criticism of their second round performance.
   ‘Everyone against Italy’ was the headline in Wednesday’s edition of La Repubblica, which carried a full page review of the international press’s criticism of Marcello Lippi’s side.
   At the last World Cup, Italian media raged about refereeing decisions that went against them but with fortune favouring the Azzurri this time, the Italian media have prickled instead at criticism of their team’s tactics.
   Italy defender Alessandro Nesta said the negative reaction revealed fear of his side.
   ‘If everyone is attacking us then it means they are afraid of us,’ Nesta told reporters on Wednesday.
   ‘We are indifferent to all this stuff, the words fly away with the wind. By now it has become a tradition to attack Italian football and it seems to be in fashion,’ he added.
   Nesta said he believed that, contrary to the critics, Italy have played more attacking football at this World Cup than previous editions.
   Team mate Marco Materazzi, who will miss Friday’s quarter-final against Ukraine after being sent off against Australia, said putting on a show however should not be a priority.
   ‘We will leave entertainment to others. You will see it from Italy after July 9,’ he said, referring to the date of the final.
   Nesta displayed a similar attitude when asked about the image the Italian team have presented at the World Cup.
   After the Serie A match-fixing scandal erupted, Italian Football Federation officials said the team had a double-task at the finals - to win but also to improve the image of Italian football.
   Asked how he felt the team were progressing on the second of those tasks, Nesta said: ‘We only have one task. If you win then the rest, being popular, will follow.’
   When an Argentine reporter asked a question about the scandal, Nesta snapped: ‘Is everything fine in your country? I think everyone needs to look after their own house.’
   There was outrage in Italian newspapers on Wednesday after German news weekly Der Spiegel published a satirical World Cup-related column on its Web site about the Azzurri entitled ‘Oiled up and greasy’ which referred to Italians as ‘parasitical forms of life’.
   The article was later withdrawn and an apology posted on the Web site but that didn’t stop the daily La Stampa declaring - ‘Italian parasites - that is how Der Spiegel prepares for the semi-final’.
   Asked about the article, Nesta said: ‘They criticise us for how we are but then they want to dress and eat like us. There is a bit of envy’.
   Italy could face Germany in the semi-final if they beat Ukraine and the Germans get past Argentina in their quarter-final.

Portugal’s all-time leading scorer Pauleta has refused to write off England ahead of Saturday’s quarter-final, saying critics of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s team should look at the fate suffered by Spain.
   Spain cruised convincingly through their group matches and were tipped to finally drop their tag of perennial underachievers at the World Cup by at least making the last four.
   But they were unceremoniously dumped out 3-1 by France in Tuesday’s second round game.
   England, on the other hand, have not produced their best football in eking out two wins and a draw in their pool games before sneaking past Ecuador 1-0 in the second round.
   But Pauleta insisted: ‘England are not playing badly.
   ‘People were saying Spain were playing the best football in the tournament and now they’re out,’ said the 33-year-old Paris St Germain striker, who broke Eusebio’s Portuguese scoring record with a double against Latvia last year.
   Pauleta said the England side comprised ‘players of highest level in the world’, rubbishing a report by English tabloid The Sun on Wednesday in which he was quoted as saying that goalkeeper Paul Robinson was the team’s weakest link.
   ‘The game is equal and it will be decided by who takes the smallest of chances.
   ‘But we think we can beat them again, as in Euro 2004, because we’re the same group of players but with more experience.’
   Portugal coach Luis Felipe Scolari has twice coached sides to quarter-final wins over England in the last two major football tournaments, at Euro 2004 with Portugal and the first with Brazil in the 2002 World Cup.
   ‘We will show our country they can be proud of us,’ said Pauleta said. ‘We’re going to leave our soul down on the field.’
   Nuno Valente also admitted that England were a team that could not be taken lightly.
   ‘They are a very dangerous team and we will have to be very attentive,’ said Valente, who plies his club trade with English Premiership outfit Everton.
   ‘If they have a chance they’ll take advantage of it. If they have a chance, they normally score with it.
   ‘Personally, I will have to try and stop David Beckham from launching his normal crosses,’ said the left-back.
   Pauleta was confident that Scolari would have a full squad to pick from come Saturday’s match, although playmaker Deco and influential holding anchorman Costinha are out after being sent off in the 1-0 win over the Netherlands.
   The main concern was centred on Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who went off after 20 minutes of the Dutch game after picking up a thigh injury in a rough early tackle by defender Khalid Boulahrouz.
   ‘We’re all going to be fit for Saturday. We’ve had six days to rest and prepare for the match,’ insisted Pauleta.

Brazil were celebrating more than the 3-0 win over Ghana that earned a place in the World Cup quarter-finals.
   The defending champions broke several records Tuesday in their second-round match in Dortmund.
   Foremost was Ronaldo getting his 15th World Cup goal, becoming the all-time leading scorer in the tournament.
   Cafu became the Brazilian player with the most World Cup appearances, 19, and Carlos Alberto Parreira moved up to fourth on the list of most matches as a coach at the World Cup, also with 19.
   In addition, Brazil scored their 200th and 201st goals, and increased their winning streak in the tournament to 11 matches – seven in 2002 and four here.
   Ronaldo entered the match tied with Gerd Muller of Germany with 14 goals. He netted the milestone in the fifth minute after a brilliant step-over that beat goalkeeper Richard Kingson and a defender. The Real Madrid striker broke through the offside trap near midfield after a perfectly timed pass from Kaka.
   He connected twice in Brazil’s 4-1 victory against Japan, surpassing Pele as Brazil’s leading scorer in the competition.
   Cafu, after being rested for the Japan match, returned against Ghana to set the Brazilian games mark. The 36-year-old winger was even with Dunga and Claudio Taffarel with 18 World Cup matches before Tuesday.
   Germany’s Lothar Matthaeus holds the overall record with 25 appearances from 1982 to 1998.
   Cafu has a chance to break other records during the competition. He can become the first man to play in four finals, and the only captain to lift the trophy twice.
   With 16 victories, Cafu already has won more World Cup matches than any other Brazilian, and has played a record 149 games for his country. He has lost only lost 19 times.
   Brazil got goal No 200 in World Cups when Adriano scored in first-half injury time, using his left thigh to connect with a cross from Cafu. Ze Roberto netted No 201 in the 84th after beating Kingson and finding the open net.
   Brazil began the competition with 191, adding seven in their first-stage victories over Croatia, Australia and Japan.
   Parreira, who led Brazil to their fourth world title in 1994 in the United States, coached his 19th World Cup match and is now six short of the record held by Germany’s Helmut Schoen, from 1966 to 1978.
   He already shares with Bora Milutinovic the record of coaching teams in five World Cups. Parreira had Kuwait in 1982, the United Arab Emirates in 1990, Saudi Arabia in 1998 and Brazil in 1994 and 2006.

Ukraine and Italy will not be allowed to train on the pitch at Hamburg before they meet each other there in the World Cup quarter-final on Friday, FIFA said on Wednesday.
   The pitch at Hamburg has been showing considerable signs of wear during the World Cup and several sections of it have been replaced prior to Friday’s game.
   FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said: ‘Parts of the pitch have been re-laid at Hamburg and as a result it needs to be protected so the teams will not train there. They will continue training at their own venues.’
   Concerns have also been raised about the state of the pitch at Gelsenkirchen where England meet Portugal in their quarter-final on Saturday and neither team is expected to be able to train there either.
   Argentina, who meet hosts Germany in another quarter-final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion on Friday have told FIFA they have no plans to train at the stadium before the match.
   Germany, meanwhile, will continue training at their base situated within the Olympic complex, but not on the pitch itself.
   Some of the pitches at the 12 venues during the tournament have given cause for concern during the opening 56 games.
   Wolfgang Niersbach, vice-president of the German World Cup organising committee, said last week there were problems with the pitches in Hamburg, Cologne and Gelsenkirchen.
   ‘We accept that the state of some of the pitches has not always been perfect,’ he said.
   All the pitches were laid at the end of the German domestic league season in May using a mixture of grass and turf grown in either Darmstadt and the Netherlands.
   But heavy rain soon after they were laid followed by extremely hot and dry weather afterwards has affected the growth of the grass in some areas of some of the pitches.
   The grass has also retained more moisture than was expected and a number of players have been seen slipping on the turf during the opening two phases of the competition.

Adidas, the German maker of sportswear and equipment, said Wednesday it had already sold 1.2 billion euros (1.5 billion dollars) worth of football products this year owing to the ongoing World Cup.
   ‘We did not only match our targets but more or less exceeded all of them,’ Adidas chief executive Herbert Hainer told a press conference here. ‘There is still upside potential depending on how teams will perform,’ he added.
   Football-related sales were expected to stabilise at slightly above 1.0 billion euros in 2007 before rising again in 2008, when the European football championship kicks in, Hainer told reporters.
   ‘There is no doubt that Adidas is the winner of this World Cup.’
   Adidas said it has already sold a record three million replica jerseys in the wake of the football event, including 1.5 million jerseys of the German national team.
   At the previous World Cup in 2002, the company sold 1.5 million federation jerseys and 250,000 German jerseys.
   It has also sold more than 15 million of its ‘Teamgeist’ World Cup match balls, compared with 6.0 million in 2002.
   Adidas is an official sponsor, supplier and licensee of the World Cup and sponsored six national teams in the tournament, including that of host country Germany.
   Germany and two other nations sponsored by Adidas, Brazil and France, have made it through to the quarter-final round of competition.
   Hainer said jersey sales could climb higher depending on those teams’ results.
   Guenter Weigl, head of the firm’s global football operations, said Adidas has increased slightly its share of the European soccer footwear market despite stagnating or even declining markets.

Argentina, Italy, England, Brazil are bookmakers favourites
   Argentina, Brazil, England and Italy are the favourites to reach the World Cup semi-finals, according to English bookmakers on Wednesday.
   Argentina are rated at 6-4 to beat hosts Germany with Paddy Power, Ladbrokes and William Hill.
   Italy are 8-13 on to beat World Cup debutants Ukraine, with Oleg Blokhin’s side 9-2 to shock the 1982 winners. England are marginal favourites at 10-11 on to get revenge on Portugal for their defeat against Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side at Euro 2004.
   Reigning world champions Brazil are 4-5 on to beat France, who are 7-2 to repeat their 1998 final triumph over the South Americans.
   William Hill make Brazil firm favourites to retain their trophy at 9-4, followed by Argentina (7-2), Germany (9-2) and England (11-2).
   Ukraine are 50-1 outsiders, while Portugal are 16-1, France 11-1 and Italy 13-2. — AFP
   
   Goalie singer
   Argentina goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri likes to sing. His team-mates suggest he better stick to soccer.
   Abbondanzieri likes to entertain the team during practices with some musical lyrics, but sometimes ‘it seems like he’s wailing,’ joked midfielder Javier Mascherano.
   ‘He insists on singing, but he has no future there,’ added the Corinthians player. ‘It’s better if he keeps on being a goalie.’
   Abbondanzieri even sings in the mixed zone where journalists interview players after the matches.
   He often stops in front of Raul Rivelo, a special correspondent for the Argentine Rock & Pop radio station, and starts to sing.
   If Argentina defeat Germany on Friday in the World Cup quarterfinals in Berlin, Abbondanzieri promised to give his team-mates a private concert in the locker room. — AP
   
   Frenchman in 686km round trip to Britain
   A Frenchman made a 686-kilometre (426-mile) round-trip from Paris to London and then back again purely to place a 10,000-euro (6,900-pound, 12,600-dollar) bet on Brazil to win the World Cup, British bookmaker William Hill said Tuesday.
   The mystery punter is said to have been ‘hopping up and down’ outside the chain’s branch at Waterloo station, where Eurostar trains linking London and Paris start and terminate, waiting for staff to open up.
   He then handed over a stash of Euros before rushing off to catch the train back to France, leaving the manager to chase him with the betting slip.
   ‘The man was clearly in a hurry to catch the train back. He told us that he would be back on July 10 (when the World Cup final is held) to collect the winnings,’ said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams.
   ‘We didn’t have the heart to tell him that he could have placed the bet on either the telephone or on the Internet.’
   The man staked 10,000 euros at odds of 11 to four and will collect 37,500 euros if Brazil lift the trophy.
   Unlike Britain, where wagers can be placed at a number of privately-owned chains, betting in France is more tightly controlled with two franchises, one running bets on horseracing, the other lottery and scratch-card games. — AFP
   
   Jinxed ASDA in bid to sign Figo
   ASDA wants to sign Portuguese striker Luis Figo for its advertising campaign – in the hope its injury jinx will strike a third time.
   The supermarket saw Wayne Rooney get hurt after signing him up for ads, then his stand-in Michael Owen was sent home from Germany injured. A straw poll in ASDA’s offices found Figo was the Portuguese player most likely to score against England.
   ASDA’s Nick Agarwal said, ‘We want him to do some nice publicity shots and get injured in training. Nothing too serious. We are speaking to Figo’s agent at the moment.’ — New Age Desk
   
   Spanish media aghast
   Spain’s media reacted with sadness and frustration on Tuesday after the national side bowed out to France to miss out on a place in the World Cup quarter-finals.
   France came from behind to win 3-1, aided by former Real Madrid favourite Zinedine Zidane, and send packing a Spanish side of which much had been expected this summer.
   ‘A casa (home). The dream is over,’ said Marca sports magazine in a blunt assessment.
   Spain has fallen on several occasions at the quarter-final stage and only ever made the semis in 1950 – but this year fans at least expected a last eight battle which would have been with Brazil had they dismissed Les Bleus.
   ‘This time we couldn’t even reach the quarters and we are going home – as usual,’ sighed Marca.
   AS sports magazine said on its website that ‘France imposed her greater experience and sent the Spanish packing in a very tactical match which did not really catch fire and in which Spain did not play at their best.’
   El Mundo daily’s website noted the ‘deep Spanish pain which was consummated in the final few minutes.’
   For the electronic edition of El Pais newspaper the headline read simply:
   ‘Spain, eliminated.’ — AFP
   
   Ecuador to receive presidential award
   Ecuador’s squad are to receive a special award for their World Cup showing next Monday from President Alfredo Palacio after their battling run to the second phase, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.
   Coach Luis Fernando Suarez and his 23 players are to be given a state reception at the presidential palace, secretary of state for communication, Enrique Proano, said.
   ‘President Palacio will decorate the players and then host a lunch for them and their families,’ Proano said.
   Ecuador beat Poland and Costa Rica before losing to Germany in the group stage from which they qualified for the first time on only their second appearance in the finals after 2002.
   In the second round a David Beckham free-kick for England undid their hopes of further progress as they went out 1-0. — AFP
   
   Voronin blow for Ukraine
   Ukraine striker Andriy Voronin will miss the rest of the World Cup after picking up a thigh injury in the match against Switzerland, team officials said Wednesday.
   The 26-year-old Bayer Leverkusen player will stay on, however, at the team’s base here as they prepare for Friday’s quarter-final against Italy in Hamburg.
   ‘Andriy is distraught that the World Cup is over for him,’ said Ukraine spokesman Igor Mirochnichenko.
   Voronin was a key member of the Ukraine side that hit back from an opening 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Spain to reach the last 16.
   They then defeated Switzerland on penalties to get to the last eight. — AFP
   
   Three Brazilian players under treatment
   Brazilian defender Lucio and midfielder Emerson and Kaka were all undergoing treatment following Tuesday’s 3-0 second win over Ghana, the Brazilian Football Confederation said.
   The CBF’s website said on Wednesday that Emerson and Kaka both complained of pain in the right knee and that Lucio had suffered a knock on his right thigh.
   It did not give any further details on the three or whether there was any risk of their missing Saturday’s quarter-final against France.
   Emerson was replaced by Gilberto Silva at halftime in Tuesday’s game while Kaka went off in the 83rd minute. Lucio played on until the end.
   It added that forward Robinho, who was ruled out of the Ghana game because of a problem with his right thigh, was undergoing intensive treatment.
   Brazil were hoping that Robinho would be fit for Saturday. —Reuters
   
   Merkel praises Klinsmann
   German chancellor Angela Merkel heaped praise on national football coach Juergen Klinsmann in an interview published on Wednesday and predicted Germany would reach the World Cup semi-finals
   ‘He has done a wonderful job of preparing the “Mannschaft” (team) for the World Cup. I hope he carries on like this for a long time to come,’ Merkel told Sport Bild magazine.
   ‘I am confident that we will survive the quarter-finals,’ she added, hinting Germany will beat Argentina when they meet in Berlin on Friday.
   Klinsmann took charge of Germany in August 2004 and has yet to pen a new deal as coach. He has declined to disclose his future plans, saying these hinged on the World Cup.
   Merkel has charmed the public by turning into a committed, excitable football fan who has been in the stand for every one of Germany’s matches.
   She described the whole first half of the country’s match against Sweden, which saw striker Lukas Podolski score two goals in less than 12 minutes, as her favourite World Cup moment so far.
   ‘It was perhaps the best first half we have seen in the World Cup. It was a joy to see the way they played,’ she said. — AFP
   
   Bad omen
   Argentina have defeated a host team in the World Cup only once, in the 1990 semi-finals in Italy, and have never won in Berlin’s Olympiastadion. That might not be a good sign heading into Friday’s World Cup quarterfinal match against Germany in the nation’s capital.
   In three matches against the host country of a World Cup, Argentina lost twice and only beat Italy in a penalty shoot-out, after the match ended 1-1. In the first World Cup, host Uruguay beat Argentina in the final, and in England 1966, the English won in the quarterfinals.
   Argentina have lost their three matches in Olympiastadion, none of them in a World Cup – in 1979 against West Germany (2-1), in 1988 against the Soviet Union (4-2) and in 1988 against West Germany (1-0). — AP
   
   United Nations reaction
   UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, a Ghanaian, said his country’s performance at this year’s World Cup was ‘just a coming out party.’
   ‘Don’t cry for Ghana,’ Annan, an avid soccer fan, told reporters after their 3-0 defeat to Brazil in the second round. ‘I think tomorrow it will be a different story.’
   He noted the 2010 matches would be played ‘on African soil.’ South Africa will host the next finals in four years’ time.
   Annan plans to attend a game in Germany next week with chancellor Angela Merkel but missed Ghana’s win against the United States last week because he was flying back from a meeting in Geneva. — Reuters
   
   Thai killed in Italy v Australia penalty brawl
   A dispute about the last minute penalty which put Italy through to the World Cup quarter-finals at the expense of Australia ended with one Thai soccer fan killing another, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
   Italian fan Saran Channarong stabbed Australia supporter Rabieb Lukchan twice after Rabieb insisted the referee had been biased in giving Italy the penalty which was converted by Francesco Totti with the last kick of the game for a 1-0 win, the newspaper said.
   The two men had been drinking as they watched Sunday’s game at a grocery shop in the southern province of Nakohn Si Thammarat, the Daily News newspaper quoted police as saying.
   Rabieb, 45, died in hospital and police were looking for 20-year-old Saran, it said.
   A Nakohn Si Thammarat police officer confirmed the fatal dispute had been World Cup related, but could not confirm details of the quarrel. — Reuters

When Germany play Argentina in the World Cup quarter-final in Berlin on Friday it will be the third meeting of coaches Juergen Klinsmann and Jose Pekerman with the record all square.
   In both previous meetings, the teams drew 2-2, in a friendly in Duesseldorf in February 2005 when Hernan Crespo scored both Argentine goals and in a Confederations Cup match in Nuremberg a year ago.
    Klinsmann and Pekerman have both been in their jobs for almost the same time, the German taking charge in August 2004, a month before Pekerman succeeded Marcelo Bielsa, who was doing well after his 2002 World Cup failure but quit by surprise.
   The circumstances of each appointment were quite different, however, with Klinsmann’s seen as an act of desperation rather than bravery by the German football association, DFB.
   The DFB had been rejected by former Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld and Otto Rehhagel, who had just guided Greece to glory at Euro 2004, a tournament in which Rudi Voeller’s German side had played poorly. Pekerman, who as the Argentine Football Association’s (AFA) technical director had appointed Bielsa in 1999, inherited a team that was doing well.
   In 2004, Bielsa’s sides won the Olympic gold medal and reached the Copa America final.
   The last time the two nations met in a World Cup, when West Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in the Rome final in 1990, was the culmination of a coaching rivalry that marked the 1980s and which Klinsmann and Pekerman may only begin to emulate if they stay in their jobs beyond this tournament.
   Franz Beckenbauer, president of the organising committee for this World Cup, faced Argentina’s Carlos Bilardo in two World Cup finals, each winning one, and several significant friendlies.
   The two present coaches’ footballing background is quite different with Klinsmann a high profile former player who was in West Germany’s 1990 title-winning team but had no experience of coaching.
   Pekerman had a modest playing career but won plaudits as a coach steering Argentina’s under-20 team to the World Youth Cup title in 1995, 1997 and 2001. Both, however, sought to put their personal stamp on their teams with Pekerman reverting to a more traditionally Argentine attacking game centred on playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme whom Bielsa had regarded as too slow for his tactics.
   Klinsmann set himself the goal of winning the World Cup by playing fast, aggressive football far removed from the laboured performances of Voeller’s side.
   He won enemies who criticised his decision to strip Oliver Kahn of the captaincy and made him fight for the goalkeeping spot with Jens Lehmann and leave Christian Woerns and Kevin Kuranyi out of his World Cup squad.
   The faith shown by the DFB looks to have been well placed. Germany’s fitness levels have been higher than their opponents and they have been playing football that is light years ahead of the standard of their Euro 2004 performances.
   ‘We’re getting hungrier and hungrier as the tournament goes on,’ Klinsmann told reporters after the 2-0 win over Sweden in the second round. ‘We fear no one here.’
   Criticism of Pekerman’s appointment centred on the perceived leap in quality needed to handle seasoned professionals as opposed to raw youngsters.
   But so far, thanks no doubt to picking a squad full of his former proteges in the successful under-20 teams, Pekerman’s team have played some of the best football of the tournament.
   Beckenbauer and Bilardo can both be credited with the development of 5-3-2 or 3-5-2 tactics from the first time they met when Bilardo’s team impressed Germans with a 3-1 win in a friendly in Duesseldorf in 1984.
   Bilardo built a team around Diego Maradona and Argentina beat Beckenbauer’s West Germany 3-2 in the 1986 World Cup final in Mexico City.
   Beckenbauer renewed his squad, introducing a number of promising young players, among them Klinsmann, and blooded them on a South American tour in 1987 that included a 1-0 defeat to Argentina in Buenos Aires.
   Two years later, Beckenbauer finally tasted victory over Argentina when his side won 1-0 in the Four Nations Cup tournament in Berlin in 1988. Two years later he got his World Cup revenge in the Rome World Cup final.

An eerie calm befalls Buenos Aires. The normal roar of trucks and taxis fades to a lull. The shuffling masses melt away from once-bustling sidewalks. Even the air seems still as traffic jams evaporate and the streets empty out.
   It’s World Cup time again and all eyes are turned to Germany.
   Whenever Argentina’s national squad comes on the field, Buenos Aires turns into a ghost town as offices shut down, stock trading slows and classrooms idle for the 90 minutes (or more) of all-engrossing sport known here as ‘futbol.’ The World Cup is the culmination of four years of preparation, hopes and anxieties.
   Here soccer is more than just a pastime. It’s a national obsession in a country that won the World Cup twice and where fascination with ‘futbol’ is only matched in its biggest South American rival, five-time champions Brazil.
   Four years ago, Argentina were humiliated by a shocking first-round elimination. Today, many Argentines still wince when they recall the team’s worst performance in history.
   ‘It was terrible ... the game ended at 8 o’clock on a Friday morning,’ said Gabriel Del Rio, a clothing store salesman who remembers the final Argentine match in 2002 just as older Americans recall where they were when man walked on the moon. ‘Everyone had to come into the shop, but we just couldn’t work.’
   Those past shocks are now giving way to new fervor.
   Argentina led Group C, then beat Mexico 1-0 in a hard-fought overtime match in Saturday’s second-round. Now the country is in suspense, awaiting hosts Germany in a quarter-final Friday.
   Roberto Fontanarrosa, an Argentine novelist who writes about soccer for the big daily Clarin, said soccer is a matter of national pride.
   ‘We have politicians saying that Argentina is a part of the First World, but this isn’t reality. In soccer, however, we’re in league with the world’s best and our successes inspire pride in the country.’
   Argentina won their first title in 1978 at home under the watchful eye of the military dictatorship. Then Argentina repeated in 1986 when Diego Maradona nearly single-handedly led his squad to victory in Mexico. There, in the quarterfinals, he outraced English defenders from midfield to bury the ball in the net in what many call the greatest World Cup goal.
   But the roots of ‘futbol’ go much further back.
   Soccer was introduced to Argentina in the 1800s by English and Italian railroad workers and sailors who organised neighborhood matches. Clubs spread throughout the country and in Buenos Aires, where the premier league is dominated by River Plate and Boca Juniors, founded in 1901 and 1905, respectively.
   ‘Professional soccer is just the tip of the iceberg,’ Fontanarrosa noted.
   Thousands of children, adults, and even old men play religiously each week throughout their lives. And in a country where a third of the people live in poverty, this is one game that requires no expensive equipment.
   There is the national paralysis whenever Argentina plays.
   Train service is cut to a minimum. Plentiful taxis suddenly become scarce.
   Jose Luis Camano, a taxi dispatcher, said only a quarter of the taxis usually plying the streets work when Argentina plays - and to a man they have their radios tuned to the match.
   World Cup merchandise sales also soar.
   Juan Gonzales, manager of a small sports clothing shop in Buenos Aires, said sales of national team jerseys surged after Argentina’s game with Serbia-Montenegro. Sales could jump 300-400 percent if Argentina make it to the finals.
   Many public schools suspend classes when Argentina play and allow students to watch the matches instead. Many businesses and malls have large-screen televisions in the windows to retain customers.
   Argentina’s matches have been - by far -the most-watched broadcasts on television this month, outpacing the steamy soap operas that usually dominate the ratings. Meanwhile, newspapers reported a huge jump in the sale of big-screen sets.
   Victories spur spontaneous celebrations, the crowds getting bigger with each triumph. Some 10,000 chanting fans rallied Saturday night around the Obelisk, a stone spire in Buenos Aires after the Mexico match.
   Still, there are those even in Argentina who do not live or breathe soccer. Guillermo Doliner, a Buenos Aires resident, hasn’t watched a single match.
   ‘It’s a distraction from the things that really matter,’ he said.
   To this minority unmoved by soccer, Fontanarossa comments: ‘It’s like someone being in Rio de Janeiro and not participating in the carnival or being in Pamplona and avoiding the running of the bulls. These individuals are just left out.’

Italy’s central defender Alessandro Nesta confirmed Wednesday he will not play in their World Cup quarter-final against the Ukraine after failing to recover from a groin injury.
   The 30-year-old, who missed Italy’s 1-0 second round win against Australia, is hopeful of being fit for the semi-finals should the Azzurri advance.
   ‘I visited a clinic here in Duisburg and there’s still something not right,’ Nesta said at a press conference here two days ahead of their last eight clash against Ukraine in Hamburg.
   ‘It has improved a great deal, but I can’t play in this match. However I’m confident of making the next one if we get there. The doctor has given me some hope,’ added the AC Milan defensive bedrock.

Argentina? Wonderful football, undoubted stars of the tournament, but I’m not sure that they’re playing cricket, so to speak. Take a close look at the squad. Count the number of dark-haired, thick-set, muscular midgets who bear an uncanny resemblance to one Diego Maradona.
   There’s Carlos Tévez, the bull, charging through the world’s finest defences. And that irrepressible speedster Javier Saviola, who was once cited as the new Maradona by none other than ... Maradona. And Lionel Messi (despite the prettiness) who is currently being touted as the new Maradona by none other than ... Maradona. Not forgetting the supreme playmaker, Juan Román Riquelme, a dead ringer for Diego if there ever was one. And, finally, Maxi Rodríguez, scorer of the wonder goal in the wonder game against Mexico.
   Just as suspicious, look at the stars left out of their squad, Juan Sebastián Verón and Walter Samuel - the two Argentinians who look least like Maradona. Exactly. Okay, fellow travellers, are your conspiratorial antennae twitching yet?
   So five of them in the one team. Half a team of mini Maradonas. What’s going on? And whatever it is, can this Argentinian team be kosher (apart from coach José Pekerman and captain Juan Pablo Sorín, the full-back who spends his spare time playing lead guitar in Queen tribute band, Reina.
   But back to the ever-deepening mystery of the mini Maradonas. Not only do these famous five look like Diego, they play like him, too - sublime ball skills, ridiculously low centres of gravity, supernatural vision. It makes me laugh that the deathly Sven cannot find a way of bringing the best out of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, supposedly two of the world’s greatest midfield players. ‘Ah, they’re too similar, nobody told me this job would be so hard.’ Are you serious? The Argentinian team have got five stars plying their trade identically, yet they play together quite beautifully.
   The evidence? Look at Esteban Cambiasso’s goal against Serbia & Montenegro - possibly the greatest team goal of all time. Last week the Argentinian legend Jorge Valdano argued mesmerically that Argentina have always loved the ball more than the game - and therefore the dribble more than the pass. The thing about this team, though, is that they do it all.
   None of which helps penetrate the mystery of the Maradonas. It can’t be a coincidence, can it, that most of these boys were born when Diego himself was approaching his prime? Perhaps aspirant parents simply willed their first-born to be Diegos. A million Argentinians made love to the memory of Maradona, went to sleep with pictures of Maradona on their pillow, dreamed him into existence. And so it came to pass that a million mini Maradonas were born in Argentina, a triumph of collective desire. Perhaps this Argentinian side is magic realism writ large, One Hundred Years of Solitude in the footballing flesh.
   There could be another explanation. Twenty years ago Maradona was at his most prolific - in every sense. Perhaps, in those heady days of coke and roses, he was more giving than even he had imagined. Yes, libellous though it undoubtedly is, I am suggesting that he fathered half the Argentinian team. Just look at them, watch them play, you know it’s true. Why else would Diego be there with his daughter Giannina, in ecstasies over every goal? It goes deeper than nationalism. It’s a family affair. The man is cheering on his boys. Who’s the daddy now, as my good friend Ray Winstone asked all those years ago? Diego. No wonder he thinks it’s his natural right to succeed Pekerman as manager.
   Perhaps the approach has been more scientific. Could it be that in the 1980s Argentinian children were fed growth hormone (to make them grow horizontally rather than vertically) and genetically modified into mini Maradonas? Just a thought.
   One more possibility. Not entirely dissimilar. The Argentinians are a canny bunch. They knew what they had in Diego and determined that he wouldn’t be a one-off. Perhaps, and this is just a perhaps, they bottled the man’s liquid assets and state-funded a Maradona sperm bank. Now 20-something years on they are reaping their rewards.
   Watching England struggle to beat the sub-mediocre Ecuador, I can’t help wondering whether this is where it all went wrong. Typical English - thinking in the shortest of short terms. If only we’d been more protective of Bobby Charlton’s semen or encouraged him to sow his oats more widely, we could have been multiple world beaters. As far back as 1986, a team full of mini Bobby Charltons could have pummelled Argentina, hand of God and all, and rewritten history. — The Guardian

Argentina’s teenage forward Lionel Messi thrives on tough away matches in front of a hostile crowd.
   ‘I like to play with the crowd against me,’ Messi said as he contemplated Argentina’s World Cup quarter-final against host nation Germany in Berlin on Friday.
   ‘It’s a quarter-final and from here they’re all difficult matches and this one against Germany a bit more because, apart from the football they play, they’re at home and, like it or not, that also helps.’
   Messi, who turned 19 on Saturday when Argentina beat Mexico 2-1 after extra time in their second round match, put on an impressive show when Barcelona won at Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League first knockout round tie in February.
   That performance and his scoring contribution in Argentina’s 3-2 defeat by Croatia in a friendly on March 1 helped coach Jose Pekerman decide to include the teenager, often compared with Diego Maradona, in his World Cup squad.
   Messi pulled a thigh muscle in the home leg against Chelsea and only recovered in time for the World Cup. He has come off the bench in Argentina’s last three matches and scored his maiden World Cup goal in the 6-0 win over Serbia & Montenegro.
   He also had what looked like a valid goal against Mexico, which would have been a late winner in normal time, overruled for offside.
   Messi’s features look down from huge adidas posters around Germany at the tournament in which he was tipped to be one of the dominant players but the youngster told reporters he does not think about becoming the world’s number one player.
   ‘I don’t attach any importance to those things,’ he said.
   ‘I always repeat the same thing, I play when I’m asked and try to enjoy it, do things well for my team, but I don’t think about being the best in the world or that I have to do things well because my face is everywhere.
   ‘I play to enjoy myself, if things comes off, good, if not, too bad,’ he said.
   Meanwhile, Argentina striker Carlos Tevez warned Germany on Tuesday that they would have to up their game in the World Cup quarter-final in Berlin on Friday.
   He said great players rise to the occasion in big matches, that Argentina had many such players and Germany would have to show more than they have so far in the tournament to beat them.
   ‘We must show balls,’ Tevez said when asked how Argentina should play Germany.
   ‘It’s going to be a very tough match, cerebral too.
   ‘Germany are going to have to show more than they have done so far to beat us,’ said the striker, a member of Argentina’s talented bench.
   ‘They know that if they let us play, we can cause them problems,’ he told a news conference after training.
   ‘I like to play with the crowd against me, we Argentine players are used to that ...
   ‘The great players and the great teams show themselves there (in the difficult matches).’
   Asked if Germany’s height would be an advantage for the home team, Tevez said: ‘Playing them on the ground we can hurt them.
   ‘They play well in the air because they are tall.
   ‘I’m not afraid of them if they come (at me). I’d be afraid of them in a fight...but I’m not afraid because we’re going to play fooball.’
   Tevez has made three appearances in the tournament as a substitute, scoring in the 6-0 rout of Serbia & Montenegro, Argentina’s second group game.
   He also came on in the 0-0 draw with Netherlands and when Argentina beat Mexico 2-1 after extra time in the second round in Leipzig on Saturday.
   Coach Jose Pekerman is expected once again to keep Tevez and teenager Lionel Messi, his two most skilled ball players, in reserve on the bench and start with Hernan Crespo, who has scored in all three of his appearances, and Javier Saviola up front.

On a team of famous one-namers, there is only one you need to know: Ronaldo.
   He’s not to be confused with Ronaldinho, Robinho, Ze Roberto or any other brilliant Brazilian ‘o.’ He may have lost a step or two, and no one will ever describe him as svelte. Ronaldinho has surpassed him on many levels.
   When it comes to the World Cup, though, not even Pele, the trendsetter for soccer’s single-name elite, is Ronaldo’s equal.
   ‘He is a player that records belong to him,’ Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said Tuesday. ‘He is again on top of every player in the world. He’s scored more goals than any player at the World Cup. His name is on top.’
   And it will take a very special player to knock him off.
   Ronaldo scored his 15th goal in 18 World Cup matches in Brazil’s 3-0 victory over Ghana on Tuesday, making him the tournament’s all-time scoring leader. Pele, Diego Maradona, Lothar Matthaeus, Berti Vogts, Bebeto - none of them did what Ronaldo has done.
   ‘It was never my goal’ to break the record, he said. ‘It just happened match after match.’
   He may not be done yet, either. Ronaldo has three goals in the last two games. If Brazil wins a sixth title, and it’s the favorite, Ronaldo will have three more games to add to his goal haul.
   ‘I want to continue to increase the record,’ he said, ‘but without forgetting that the main goal in the World Cup is winning the title.’
   There are plenty who will argue that Pele is the best the game has ever seen. A three-time world champion, he played with a joy and grace that enchanted the world. People who never cared about soccer watched simply to see him, and he remains an icon to those who only know him from the stories.
   He is still the youngest player to score at a World Cup, and finished with 12 goals in four World Cup appearances. He is Brazil’s career scoring leader with 95 goals in 114 matches.
   But when it comes to the biggest stage, Ronaldo has him beat. He has bumped Pele to fourth on the list of all-time goals, and he could equal Pele’s three World Cup titles in the July 9 final in Berlin.
   ‘Ronaldo is a special player,’ Parreira said. ‘He’s a player for the big and good moments.’
   A player for the tough moments, too.
   Already a two-time FIFA player of the year, Ronaldo missed four months in 1999 when he tore up his knee while with Inter Milan and needed surgery. His first match back was the 2000 Italian Cup final - and it almost ended his career. Six minutes after coming into the game, he twisted his knee and had to be carried, weeping, off the field on a stretcher.
   He would miss almost 17 months, and his appearance at the 2002 World Cup was hardly a given. Even when he made the team, few expected him to be anything close to the old Ronaldo.
   But there is something about the World Cup that brings out Ronaldo’s best. He scored a tournament-best eight goals in seven games in 2002, helping Brazil to an unbeaten record and its fifth World Cup title, scoring both goals in the championship game. He was world player of the year for a third time.
   His challenge this time around might have been even greater. At 29, he’s no longer the quick, dazzling player he once was. Those extra kilos he’s packed on over the years don’t help. His personal life makes him the stuff of tabloid fodder.
   He played sparingly - and quietly - for Real Madrid last season because of a series of injuries, and it was clear his aura was gone. Former French star Michel Platini said Ronaldo ‘has too many years’ and was ‘carrying too many kilos.’ Even Pele knocked him.
   When he showed up for training camp, he wasn’t allowed to play with his friends because he was overweight and out of shape. Brazil’s president touched off a spat that spanned the Atlantic Ocean when he asked if Ronaldo was fat.
   And after uninspiring performances in Brazil’s first two games, against Croatia and Australia, some even suggested he be dropped from the starting lineup. Pele would never have gotten ditched like that.
   ‘Ronaldo is important for what he represents to the national team,’ Parreira said then. ‘He still deserves to be trusted.’
   As if to remind everyone why, Ronaldo scored twice in Brazil’s final group game against Japan. On Tuesday, he scored one of the most dazzling goals of the World Cup.
   In the fifth minute, he bolted past three defenders to get a perfect through pass from Kaka. Going one-on-one with Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingson, Ronaldo gave the ball a tap and then used a step-over move that sent Kingson flailing to the ground. Looking as if he was going to fake right, Ronaldo danced his foot back over and around the ball as Kingson fell over.
   With the goal empty, Ghana defender John Pantsil sprinted to try and cut Ronaldo off. It’s done many times these days, but not this time. From about 10 metres out, Ronaldo gave the ball a little shove with the side of his right foot.
   As the ball settled into the net, Ronaldo screamed for joy. Kaka and Adriano bear-hugged him, and the rest quickly piled on.
   ‘It was,’ teammate Roberto Carlos said, ‘perfect.’
   At the World Cup, there is still no one who does it better.

They were meant to be over the hill at this World Cup.
   But Brazil’s Ronaldo, David Beckham of England and France’s Zinedine Zidane have all proved in Germany that reports of their sporting demise were greatly exaggerated.
   Striker Ronaldo, 29, arrived in Germany after an injury-plagued season at Real Madrid and facing jibes about his weight. Even Brazil’s president asked whether he was fat.
   He was derided as lumbering and off the pace in Brazil’s first two matches against Croatia and Australia and was also at the centre of an illness scare between those two games.
   But he scored twice in the final group match against Japan and became the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer in Brazil’s 3-0 win second round win over Ghana on Tuesday.
   Ronaldo’s tally of 15 goals in the tournament, going back to 1998, puts him ahead of German Gerd Mueller, who scored 14 in the World Cups of 1970 and 1974.
   His strike in the Ghana game showed he still has the class that has made him one of the world’s most feared forwards.
   Ronaldo ran onto a pass from Kaka, stepped over the ball to confuse Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingston and coolly fired home.
   ‘He is a special player and a player for the big moments,’ said Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who resisted pressure to drop the striker.
   ‘He is going to be key in these games, he is a decisive player, I am sure of that,’ Parreira said.
   The same could be said of Ronaldo’s club mate Beckham, whose free kicks and crosses have been crucial to England’s progress.
   The 31-year-old’s performances have quietened critics in the English media who argued he did not contribute enough to the team and attacked coach Sven-Goran Eriksson for standing by him.
   His free kick, deflected into his own net by Paraguay’s Carlos Gamarra, gave England a 1-0 win in their first group game.
   He also provided the cross which allowed Peter Crouch to break the deadlock late in their second match with Trinidad & Tobago.
   And it was another Beckham free kick which gave England their 1-0 second round win over Ecuador, even though the midfielder was unwell and vomited twice during the game.
   ‘I’ve stopped saying anything to David Beckham’s critics,’ Eriksson said after that match. ‘He’s maybe the best set-piece player in the world and he’s still criticised.’
   Zidane, 34, will retire from football after this World Cup.
   He looked like he may have played his last match for the nation he inspired to the 1998 title when he was booked against South Korea to be ruled out of the final group game with Togo.
   But Les Bleus survived that encounter and Zidane was back on song in Tuesday night’s 3-1 second round win over Spain.
   His free kick set up Patrick Vieira to give France the lead and he capped his performance with a beautifully taken goal of his own in stoppage time.
   ‘The adventure continues,’ Zidane said.

The World Cup in Germany has confounded predictions that the power base of football has shifted and made the 2002 tournament in Asia look like a quirk of history.
   The quarter-final qualifiers four years ago were: Brazil, England, Germany, Senegal, Spain, co-hosts South Korea, Turkey and the United States.
   Senegal were World Cup debutants, South Korea had never won a World Cup match in their history before co-hosting the tournament, Turkey were in unchartered territory and the Americans seemed astonished to have got so far.
   Fast forward four years.
   Brazil, England and Germany are in the last eight again but the similarities with 2002 end there.
   This year’s lineup is completed by Argentina, France, Italy, Portugal and Ukraine, who between them have won six of the 17 World Cups contested.
   While Ukraine are not a recognised power, it is hard to describe the former Soviet republic as a surprise quarter-finalist when they have one of the world’s most expensive strikers, the 30-million-pound (54.5-million-dollar) Chelsea recruit Andriy Shevchenko, in their ranks.
   Senegal and Turkey failed to even qualify for the 2006 finals and the United States went out with a whimper in the first round.
   FIFA President Sepp Blatter said: ‘I think it is a pity that the old powers from South America and Europe have dominated.’
   The question is, why?
   There is the undoubted advantage for the European teams of playing in their own time zone in weather conditions they are used to, although the unseasonally high 30-degree heat in Germany should have suited teams from the southern hemisphere.
   One important factor was a ruling by world governing body FIFA that the European club season must end by May 15, allowing players some rest before embarking on the World Cup that started on July 9.
   European players complained of being tired in 2002 while the South Korean players seemed fresh in comparison.
   And then there is the dollop of luck that all teams must have. Italy and Spain complained long and hard that refereeing decisions went against them in Asia.
   Asian football, especially, has suffered a setback in Germany.
   Japan reached the last 16 in 2002 under the disciplinarian coach Philippe Troussier, but their players have failed to make major inroads into the major European clubs.
   After crashing out in the first round in Germany, Japan’s current coach Zico, a star of Brazil in the 1980s, said more Japanese players needed to play abroad if the national team were to improve.
   ‘We cannot be successful in the World Cup with our abilities limited to the level of Asia,’ Zico said.
   But with Europe and South America dominating club football, perhaps it is no surprise that national sides from those countries have re-asserted their dominance.
   Not everyone was fooled in 2002.
   The veteran American goalkeeper Brad Friedel, a seasoned English Premiership player, was asked after his side’s elimination to eventual finalists Germany in the quarter-finals if he believed the United States had finally arrived as a footballing power.
   He paused and smiled. ‘I think this was a special time,’ he said.

They came to the World Cup billed as the great underachievers.
   After sliding out to France, Spain go home with the same label stuck on their suitcases and this time the early exit was almost as painful as their loss four years earlier a round later on penalties to South Korea.
   Yet the pain in Spain is not unpredictable.
   It was ever thus.
   In throwing away the early advantage of David Villa’s first-half penalty to bow out to French goals from Franck Ribery, Patrick Vieira and resuscitated galactico Zinedine Zidane the Spaniards simply reverted to type.
   This was to have been the breakthrough year for ‘la furia’, the year that young guns such as Villa and Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Ramos were to dovetail with the experienced heads of Raul and Carles Puyol.
   Instead, the great chance went begging, to the consternation of the players who had seen France as ripe for the picking, ending Spain’s long wait for a first competitive victory over their neighbours.
   ‘I don’t think the final scoreline was an accurate reflection of what happened,’ insisted coach Luis Aragones after Spain’s first defeat in 26 games.
   ‘It was a very even game - but their equaliser hit us badly.
   ‘We’ve got a young side and they gave everything but in the knockout phase we lacked that competitive edge.’
   Aragones said that he took ‘responsibility as I am the one mainly to blame for the fact we are going home so early. As long as we don’t get to a final and win it, it will always rank as a failure.
   ‘I will carry on coaching - but I don’t know where,’ he added, suggesting it might be time for a new man at the helm for Euro 2008, when Spain’s current crop of stars should have matured to the degree that they will surely be among the favourites.
   Goalkeeper Iker Casillas, shattered after long-time Real Madrid clubmate Zidane emphatically ended the dream with the third French goal, apologised to Spain’s legions of fans, some of the tournament’s most raucous clad in their torero (bullfighting) garb.
   ‘That is another World Cup gone and another big tournament we let slip away. We didn’t play as well as we did in our other games and I’m just sorry we wouldn’t make the fans happy.’
   Spain’s record goalscorer Raul, another from the Real Madrid contingent, was similarly upset after the French hoodoo struck again on his 29th birthday - he missed a penalty against Les Bleus in the 2000 European Championship quarter-final.
   ‘France were the better side and despite our efforts we didn’t have that many chances to win.
   ‘But we’re a young team and we have to learn from this. The future looks bright for upcoming tournaments.
   ‘I hope that Euro 2008 goes well for us as I think that will be my last championship,’ said the striker, three times a Champions League winner with Real but who has lost his way over the past two seasons after serious knee problems.
   Spain’s Liverpool star Xabi Alonso, another who did not find his form on the day, said that the defeat ‘hurts a lot.’
   ‘We’ll need to improve for the European Championship - we expected to be here for longer.’
   Colleague Joaquin said Spain had to move on - again.
   ‘We must look to the future. We’re down but life goes on and this generation is very young.’

Germany’s former first-choice goalkeeper Oliver Kahn admits it will hurt him to be on the substitutes bench for Friday’s World Cup quarter-final clash with Argentina but promised to do everything in his power to help his country lift a fourth World Cup title.
   The 37-year-old was Germany’s number one goalkeeper for eight years but after a two-year battle for the jersey Jens Lehmann came out on top.
   The Bayern Munich man has cut a glum figure at the finals but said he was still right behind the team.
   ‘I am only human and I want to be active. If a player is happy to be on the substitutes bench you should send him home from the World Cup straight away,’ Kahn said at Wednesday’s press conference.
   ‘However I will do everything for this team to win the trophy. I have always said I wanted to be world champion.
   ‘I came close in 2002. If I can do that now - even though I am not playing - it will be a major achievement.’
   Kahn was voted best player at the 2002 World Cup after inspiring Germany to the final, although a blunder in the final helped Brazil to a 2-0 win.
   Despite stripping Kahn of the captaincy on his arrival in August 2004 and making him second choice, Klinsmann has stressed Kahn’s importance to the team.
   ‘The further we go in the competition, the more Kahn contributes to our success,’ said Klinsmann.
   His haul of 85 caps makes Kahn the most experienced player in the Germany squad and he is passing on knowledge to his younger team-mates.
   ‘I am obsessed by winning titles and being the number one so helping the team is giving me a new perspective,’ Kahn revealed.
   ‘I am not finding it difficult spending a few weeks here. I think it is fair to say I bring my experience to the team.
   ‘Sometimes the younger players need to be pushed or given an arm around the shoulder. I can do that. Of course I want to play. But Jurgen Klinsmann chose Jens Lehmann and I have to accept that.’
   Just three days ago Kahn complained that he did not understand why Lehmann was favoured over him and said Klinsmann had still not given him an explanation.
   The two goalkeepers were involved in a bitter war of words in the press making Kahn’s demotion harder to swallow but the veteran goalkeeper admitted Lehmann had acquitted himself well so far.
   ‘Jens is having a good tournament. We have kept three clean sheets in a row and that says something for him,’ Kahn said.
   Lehmann will be in goal again against Argentina on Friday and Kahn says there is no reason to fear the South Americans after last year’s two friendlies ended 2-2.
   ‘We have come close to beating Argentina. We have tended to draw against the top teams but this time we will have extra-time or even penalties,’ Kahn explained.
   ‘Everyone knows how good Germany are at penalties.’
   Kahn’s future after the tournament is uncertain and he refused to say whether he would retire from international football.
   ‘I don’t know. I am focussed on the World Cup and can not make long-term plans at my age,’ Kahn said. Asked on a possible career as a coach Kahn replied: ‘I am not thinking of going into coaching.

Gerd Muller paid tribute on Tuesday to Ronaldo after the Brazilian broke the former West Germany striker’s World Cup scoring record.
   Ronaldo’s 15th strike at a finals in the second round match against Ghana eclipsed ‘Der Bomber’, who held the record after scoring in the 1974 final to take over from Frenchman Just Fontaine.
   ‘Although Ronaldo is now (playing) in his third World Cup, this is nevertheless still a great achievement on his part,’ Muller told the FIFA website in an interview.
    ‘Playing at such a high level over such a long period of time, always managing to be fit at the right moment is unusual nowadays.
   ‘In my opinion, he’s the best, most complete attacker there is at the moment,’ added Muller, who scored his World Cup goals in the 1970 and 1974 tournaments.
   Muller, whose winner in a 2-1 victory over Netherlands in the ‘74 showpiece match was fittingly Germany’s 100th goal at a finals, had expected his record to be broken this year.
   ‘Even before the tournament started, it was obvious that he (Ronaldo) would get at least two goals and draw level, if not three and set a new record. It wasn’t a surprise.
   ‘I’ve always said that I wasn’t the record-holder. That honour, for me, goes to Just Fontaine, who scored 13 goals in one tournament. He’s the best in my book.’
   Fontaine scored his goals at the 1958 finals in Sweden, including four in the third-place playoff match in which his team beat West Germany 6-3.
   Ronaldo has been criticised by fans and media alike after a disappointing season at Real Madrid amid accusations that he was overweight but Mueller praised the striker.
   ‘Brazil need Ronaldo, they haven’t got anyone quicker than him up front. Ronaldo is still pacy. He wasn’t on top of his game in the first two (group) matches, but against Japan, he could have got about five goals.
   Ronaldo, who was top scorer in the 2002 tournament with eight goals, scored twice in Brazil’s 4-1 win over Japan with his second goal equalling Mueller’s tally of 14.

Argentine World Cup midfielder Lionel Messi will never betray his club Barcelona by jumping ship to arch-rivals Real Madrid, his father said in a report on Wednesday.
   Jorge Messi, who with his family fled the economic crisis enveloping Argentina six years ago, was rebutting claims by candidates in the Madrid club’s presidential election that they hoped to capture the teenaged prodigy.
   Messi senior ruled out any possibility of his son moving to the capital, Barcelona’s Sport daily reported.
   ‘It’s been the same ever since I’ve been here, the players are being used,’ Messi said.
   ‘Every one knows what is going on, but you can’t do this at Barca. Leo is very popular with the fans and there will not be any kind of betrayal.’
   The five rivals bidding for the top job at Madrid have dangled promises of top players and coaches such as Brazil’s Kaka and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger in an attempt to end a three-year trophy drought.
   Nicknamed ‘The Flea’, Messi played a key role in Argentina’s goalless draw against the Netherlands to ensure his team finished top of Group C in the World Cup in Germany last week.

Thierry Henry has denied cheating in an attempt to have Spanish centre-half Carles Puyol sent-off during France’s 3-1 win in Cologne. Henry crumpled to the ground, holding his head, after being barged to the ground by Puyol. The Barcelona defender was shown a yellow card, but replays suggested he had only struck the Arsenal captain in the chest.
   From the ensuing free-kick, Patrick Vieira scored to put France 2-1 ahead. Afterwards, an unrepentant Henry insisted: ‘I don’t cheat. People can say whatever they want to say but if any team has been cheated since the beginning of the tournament it’s France.
   ‘Look at the replay, their left-back was going to take the ball and Puyol came across me and blocked me.
   ‘Puyol came up to me afterwards and apologised so how is that cheating? Spain’s left-back Mariano Perina was going to win the ball, so I don’t know why Puyol cut across me, but he did.
   ‘If that’s basketball that’s a good block, but we’re not playing basketball. In my head I’m not a guy who does go down or cheats.’

Chinese TV commentator Huang Jianxiang has apologised for his pro-Italian anti-Australian rant to an audience of many millions at the end of the World Cup match between the two teams on Monday.
   ‘I have attached too much personal feeling to the match of Italy versus Australia. I reviewed the video of the match again and I feel there are some injustice and prejudice in my comment, which have caused discomfort and hurt to the audience,’ he wrote.
   ‘I am familiar with Italian football and I hoped that the Italians would gain a berth in the last eight, to make the matches more exciting, but I have mingled my feelings and the role of my job.
   ‘It is not a standpoint that a TV commentator should have. I will apologise to those fans who express their dissatisfaction.’

Zinedine Zidane’s curtain call will have to wait. The greatest player of the last decade demonstrated on Tuesday that he remains exceptional, inspiring France to a 3-1 win over Spain for a place in the World Cup quarter-finals.
   The balding midfield artist, who will retire after the finals and would have played his last match had Les Bleus failed to qualify for the knockout stage, proved his doubters wrong by setting up a goal and scoring another.
   ‘Retirement? I’m sorry to tell them (the Spaniards) that it won’t be after this match,’ Zidane said. ‘The adventure continues.’
   What’s next for Zidane is a mouth-watering clash with Brazil, a rematch of the 1998 final, which France won 3-0 after two, headed goals from their gifted son of Algerian immigrants.
   ‘France versus Brazil, that’s a nice memory,’ he said in his trademark, soft tone.
   It was from a Zidane free kick that Patrick Vieira made it 2-1 for France with a header 83 minutes into the game against the Spanish in Hanover.
   Zidane was then booked for dissent entering added time but his finest moment was still to come.
   Two minutes later, he was set free, rounded defender Carles Puyol with an exquisite display of balance and control before guiding the ball past goalkeeper
   Iker Casillas, his Real Madrid team mate, into the net to kill the tie.
   ‘We all know what his influence on the team is,’ said France coach Raymond Domenech. ‘We were ever so happy to see that he still had the energy to score so late in the game.
   It had been a strange World Cup so far for Zidane, who had looked sluggish and uncertain at first.
   After picking up a yellow card in each of France’s first two games, he was suspended when they beat Togo 2-0 in their Group G decider on Friday, his 34th birthday.
   Had France not survived the group stage, his glittering career would have ended with the bitter taste of anti-climax.
   Now he is guaranteed a decent farewell at least, either in the quarter-finals against the world champions or perhaps even beyond that.
   With France on Tuesday giving reminders of the team that once ruled the world, it might even be a triumphant one.

France, who belied their underdog status to end Spain’s World Cup hopes, are savouring the prospect of dishing out the same medicine to Brazil in Saturday’s quarter-final.
   No more so than Zinedine Zidane and Lilian Thuram, the veteran duo with 223 caps between them who are appearing in their last World Cup.
   Tuesday’s 3-1 victory over the Spaniards postponed 34-year-old Zidane’s retirement party for at least another four days, and the France captain was happiness personified at his stay of execution.
   Especially as Spain had made plain in no uncertain terms their desire to send him packing in Hanover.
   ‘The Spanish had got our goats up about this, and I wanted to tell them that it wasn’t going to come in this game,’ said Zidane who went at Luis Aragones’ young blades with the energy of a man half his years and capped a fine performance with a stoppage time goal.
   ‘It’s important that he has to finish up on a high,’ said Zidane’s team-mate Eric Abidal.
   Thuram, France’s most capped player and another member of the thirty-something club, handed Spain the lead for an injudicious tackle on Pablo Ibanez with David Villa converting the inevitable penalty.
   ‘I thought to myself it’s not possible, it can’t end like this with me giving away a penalty!
   ‘Perhaps it’s the age thing and this being my last World Cup but I’m savouring this incredible moment. It’s really a beautiful experience.’
   Thuram, making his 119th appearance for his country in Frankfurt, added, ‘When Zizou scored our third goal it was like being liberated. We said to ourselves “let’s hope it continues like that”.’
   Of the upcoming last eight clash with the defending champions in a repeat of the 98 final in Paris where France took the crown 3-0, the Juventus defender, born on New Year’s Day in 1972 commented, ‘Brazil have so many memories for me.
   ‘Every team dreams of playing Brazil, it’s always something extraordinary.
   ‘When you run your eye over their squad, especially their forwards, it’s a great side.’
   Another ‘relic’ of France’s 1998 World Cup winning side, 33-year-old Claude Makelele, was equally enamoured at the identity of France’s last eight rivals.
   ‘Brazil are favourites, even if France are a good side. The 1998 game was different, we’re only thinking now of our immediate future, which is the quarter-finals.’
   Thierry Henry said no one had given France much of a chance against Spain.
   ‘And it’s going to be the same against Brazil,’ insisted the Arsenal striker who was forced to deny theatrically collapsing after being fouled by Carles Puyol in the incident that led to France’s second goal despite replays showing no contact.
   Sydney Govou, a last minute call-up to replace the injured Djibril Cisse, summed up the new mood of confidence sweeping through Raymond Domenech’s squad.
   ‘To play Brazil is a dream, but I hope the dream doesn’t end there for our dream is to touch the cup.’

There was a sense of the baton passing on in France’s dynamic last 16 win over Spain as Frank Ribery proved just why he was being talked about as the new Zinedine Zidane.
   With his heavily scarred face and rugged looks the 23-year-old Marseille midfielder is never going to be collecting first prize in any talent contest.
   But he’s fast becoming les Bleus’ latest pin up boy, adored by fans and teammates alike in a manner reminiscent of the impact Zidane made back in the mid 1990s.
   Ribery used to be a household name...between the four walls of his Boulogne-sur-Mer home.
   Last month, when he earned his first cap as a late substitute in a warm up against Mexico at the Stade de France, he had 80,000 fans cheering him on.
   Blessed with lightning speed and unencumbered by self doubt he charges bull-like at the opposition, injecting vital pace to the France forward line.
   A colourful character who converted to Islam after marrying a French woman of Algerian descent, his finishing had let him down in France’s three group games but here on Tuesday Ribery came of age with a vengeance.
   With France trailing after David Villa’s 26th minute penalty he latched on to Patrick Vieira’s clever pass, neatly sidestepped keeper Iker Casillas, saw off the chasing Mariano Pernia and Carlos Puyol to put the 1998 champions back on level terms.
   The pocket dynamo, whose face bears the permanent reminder of a horrific childhood car crash, celebrated his first goal for his country by leaping into the French substitutes’ bench.
   He proceeded to prove a constant menace to the Spanish backline, shortly after the break leaving Pernia for dead only for his dangerous cross to go abegging.
   Vieira and Zidane, who retires after France’s World Cup adventure reaches its conclusion, were to go on to complete a memorable night for French football but it was Ribery’s intervention that proved the turning point.
   ‘This is enormous for me,’ said the player who is keen on a move to French champions Lyon.
   ‘For me, my family. I’ve experienced difficult times in my life but I’ve always believed in myself.
   ‘I’ll remember this as one of the best moments of my career - it gave me confidence and did me a power of good, to me and and the team.’
   In the space of little over a month since his first appearance for France he is now days away from crossing swords with the world champions in Saturday’s quarter-final in Frankfurt.
   ‘Playing Brazil is a dream come true, to come up against players of the quality of Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Cafu and Ronaldinho. But we’ve got super players on our side too.’
   Ribery is far too modest a soul to count himself in that group so over to Zidane who is convinced the young tyro has a significant part to play in France’s footballing fortunes in the years to come.
   ‘Frank is someone who has an influence on the team’s spirit each time he comes onto the pitch.
   ‘He’ll become someone important in football.’
   Defender Eric Abidal, who describes his teammate as ‘my friend, like family’, has also been won over.
   ‘Each time he’s played he’s brought freshness, vivacity and technique to the team.
   ‘He creates chances. I think it’s great for the team, he pushes the side forward regardless of how many minutes he’s on the pitch.’

Shopping, drinking and posing for the cameras. It’s been a hard slog for the glamorous wives and girlfriends of the England team as they stand by their men in genteel Baden-Baden.
   The antics of the ‘WAGS’ (wives and girlfriends), as they have become known, have been classic tabloid fodder and the British dailies have been lapping it up, eagerly reporting on the nights out, the rifts and the shopping sprees.
   More used to retired German millionaires shuffling into the spas that it is famous for, the population of Baden-Baden has been knocked sideways by the arrival of the women and their designer handbags and fake tans.
   They are staying at the 1,000 pound a night Brenner’s Park Hotel and the paparazzi with their long lenses have followed them.
   Leading the pack is Victoria ‘Posh Spice’ Beckham. At 32, Victoria is the doyen of footballers’ wives having been there and done that.
   While her appearance here in skimpy shorts sparked debate about whether she is too thin, she has otherwise maintained a low profile, looking after her three children and cheering on husband David.
   The other WAGS have been more conspicuous, competing in the fashion stakes while seeing who can drink and spend the most.
   ‘They swilled drink, smashed glasses, roared raucous chants and belted out bawdy sing-songs,’ yelled the Daily Mirror after some were spotted in one of the few late-night bars here where most of the other customers were reporters
   It said they rang up a bill of thousands of pounds after downing bottles of Moet champagne followed by glasses of vodka and Red Bull and shots of Sambucca.
   The shopping sprees, meanwhile, have become legendary.
   Mass market German daily Bild said six of the WAGS, including Posh and coach Sven-Goran Eriksson’s girlfriend Nancy DellOlio, spent 80,000 euros (101,000 dollars) in one hour in the town’s luxury boutiques.
   The women blew 4,395 euros in 10 minutes alone on shoes and T-shirts, with the rest going on creations by Dolce and Gabbana, Prada and Versace, according to the report.
   But as the weeks have passed and Baden-Baden has become known as Boring-Boring, tensions have grown and splits in the ranks have reportedly occurred, with some tiring of the others’ antics and attitutes.
   Ashley Cole’s pop star fiance Cheryl Tweedy has become close to Posh and DellOlio, and Wayne Rooney’s girlfriend Coleen McLoughlin, who brought her own tanning consultant with her, has also sided with them.
   ‘Victoria’s been in this game for years. She’s got decorum whereas some of the others couldn’t even spell the word,’ the Mirror quoted an ‘insider’ as saying.
   Such has been the sideshow that Britain’s ‘high-brow’ media has also waded in, with the Sunday Times citing a survey by Carma, an international media analysis company, on which WAG has got the most press coverage.
   The winner so far is Tweedy, a singer with the group Girls Aloud.
   Next comes Posh, followed by Carly Zucker, the fitness instructor girlfriend of Joe Cole.
   Following her is Melanie Slade, the student girlfriend of Theo Walcott, Englands teenage striker who has yet to get a game. She beat off McLoughlin, and Abigail Clancy, the squeeze of Peter Crouch.
   Next up was Elen Rives, the partner of Frank Lampard who was prevented from boarding her flight to Germany after throwing a tantrum when told she could not take six items of hand luggage with her.
   And then there are the MADS, or mums and dads of the players, who are also here in force.
   While their behaviour has been far more restrained, Neville Neville, the father of defender Gary, left his mark when he was pictured dancing on a couch at a club with the WAGS holding a replica World Cup.

Ukraine’s players are hoping their outsider status sticks despite their progress to the World Cup quarterfinals.
   That should mean the pressure is on their opponents, the next of whom is Italy on Friday.
   ‘It should be easier for us because nobody will expect us to win. We’ve done well to have got this far. There are no more expectations on us. We are liberated and unburdened,’ striker Andriy Shevchenko said.
   Having made it to the second round in its first World Cup, Ukraine secured a 0-0 extra-time draw against Switzerland on Monday and then won a penalty-kick shootout 3-0.
   That set up Friday’s game in Hamburg against three-time champion Italy, which beat Australia 1-0 Monday despite being having a man sent off.
   ‘The match against Italy won’t be easy, as we are getting more and more tired with each game,’ said Shevchenko, who will be up against several teammates from his former club AC Milan. ‘I saw Italy’s game and they still did well even with only 10 men.
   ‘Italy has a good team and great players. They are always favorites. But all the pressure will be on them. We have nothing to lose and Italy has a lot to lose.’
   Shevchenko warned that his team’s ‘spirit’ will also make Ukraine increasingly tough to beat.
   ‘We’re going to put on a show,’ said Shevchenko, who missed his country’s first penalty kick before Artem Milevskiy, Serhiy Rebrov and Oleg Gusev settled the shootout. ‘We are difficult to beat. We have quality players. We can keep the ball and change our rhythm.
   ‘We have spirit and believe in ourselves. This can take you far.’
   And Ukraine has come far since being routed 4-0 by Spain in its opener. The team recovered to beat Saudi Arabia 4-0 and then edged 10-man Tunisia 1-0 to win a place in the second round.
   Although Switzerland is not a soccer heavyweight, it was favored to win Monday after going unbeaten in the group stage for the first time. Switzerland was the only team to enter the second round without conceding a goal.
   And Ukraine left Switzerland goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbuehler unimpressed.
   ‘It’s hard to take, because I hadn’t conceded during the whole tournament and Ukraine didn’t play well,’ Zuberbuehler said. ‘I didn’t have to make many good saves because there were no shots on goal.’
   While Ukraine reached its objective of getting past the group stage, Italy will not be content without at least getting close to a first title since 1982. At the last edition, the Azzurri had an embarrassing second-round exit, losing to South Korea.
   ‘Italy will be a tough opponent and they’ll be the favorites,’ Milevskiy said, ‘but that could well be a burden for them and an opportunity for us.’

Portugal head into Saturday’s quarter-final clash against England battered and bruised but confident it has the depth of quality on the replacements’ bench to prevail.
   ‘We have a lot of wonderful players,’ said Deco, who like influential midfield anchorman Costinha will miss the game in Gelsenkirchen after picking up two yellow cards in the 1-0 win over the Netherlands.
   ‘The (five) substitutes who took the field (in the 2-1 group win) against Mexico all played very well.
   ‘The players who will take our place will do a proper job.’
   Deco said he was disappointed not to be playing England, especially after world governing body FIFA turned down a request by the Portuguese football federation for the second yellow card to be rescinded.
   ‘I am sad because I wanted to play but FIFA have ruled and that’s that. I didn’t think the yellow card was fair but I have to accept it.’
   Deco’s sending-off in the 1-0 win over the Netherlands was one of four in a match in which Russian referee Valentin Ivanov also doled out 16 yellow cards.
   ‘The game was difficult for both teams,’ said Deco. ‘We are not a violent team but against the Netherlands it was not a normal match.’
   Deco said the Dutch were to blame for the match descending into farce, the seventh minute foul by Khalid Boulahrouz on Cristiano Ronaldo that was only yellow carded but could easily have been a straight red, setting the tone.
   The Brazil-born Barcelona midfielder added that Portugal expected much more from an England team that has so far failed to shine in the World Cup, topping its group with wins over Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago and a draw against Sweden.
   Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men then snuck past Ecuador 1-0 in the second round to set up the game against Portugal.
   ‘England are a very strong team,’ said Deco. ‘They’re not showing all they can show with all the good players they have.’
   Portugal coach Luis Felipe Scolari is no stranger to overcoming England, however, after masterminding their quarter-finals demise in the last two major tournaments, first with Brazil in the 2002 World Cup and then with Portugal at Euro 2004.
   The two wins both came after his teams were behind.
   Asked about the sometime-hesitant form of key England duo Frank Lampard and John Terry, Deco said: ‘In England, you ask too much of your national football team. The only thing I hope is that they’re not at their best for us.’

Germany’s in-form striker Miroslav Klose is bullish about his team’s chances of overcoming Argentina in Friday’s World Cup quarter-final, saying the South Americans have come up against the hosts at the wrong time.
   ‘Argentina are a strong team and were one of the favourites to win the World Cup before it started, but they have had the misfortune of coming up against us,’ Klose said at Wednesday’s press conference.
   ‘We hope to send them home on Friday. We know how important it is to win against Argentina.
   ‘We want to progress in this tournament so that is what we have to do.’
   Germany have won four matches in a row to surge into the last eight and Polish-born forward Klose has been an influential figure scoring four goals to top the scoring charts.
   ‘I know the Argentina defenders but I am in great shape at the moment and do not need to be too concerned with them,’ Klose declared.
   ‘I think I have improved a lot of the last two years. I had targets before the tournament and I have not yet reached them.’
   German Player of the Year Klose missed both of last year’s friendly games with Argentina - both of which finished 2-2 - and cannot wait to face the two-time World Cup winners in Berlin on Friday.
   ‘I am not nervous about facing Argentina. I did not play either of the matches against them last year so I am really looking forward to it,’ said the 28-year-old.
   ‘If we put Argentina under pressure for 90 minutes they will make mistakes.’
   But while Klose is confident of Germany’s chances of eliminating Argentina he admits their strikers are from the top drawer.
   ‘(Hernan) Crespo and (Javier) Saviola are great forwards,’ Klose said. ‘Saviola has been playing well here at the finals and Crespo is always dangerous. He is a bit like (Dutch striker) Ruud van Nistelrooy. You don’t see much of him all game and then he scores.’

Spain captain Raul was devastated following his team’s exit from the World Cup in the second round after a 3-1 defeat to France.
   ‘Today the real World Cup began and it has been a big disappointment for us,’ said Raul, who had hoped to celebrate his 29th birthday with a place in the quarter finals with Brazil.
   Spain has never progressed past the quarter-final stages in this tournament but having won all their group games in convincing fashion, netting eight goals and only conceding once, they really believed this could be their year.
   ‘It’s always the same,’ said Raul. In the moment of truth we fail to deliver, we don’t prove our worth.
   ‘The fact is that our fantastic start served for nothing because the important thing was to win tonight.’
   Real Madrid striker Raul praised their rivals, who were considered the underdogs having only scraped through their group.
   Raymond Domenech’s men had drawn with Switzerland and South Korea before defeating Togo to finish second in Group G.
   ‘We faced a great French team tonight,’ said Raul.
   ‘They have used their experience to good use and have played at a high level.
   ‘They have proved tonight that this team is by no means dead but they are alive and well.
   ‘I wish them the best of luck.’
   Raul had been an uncertainty going into the tournament having sustained a serious injury earlier this year. Luis Aragones’ decision to included him in the squad for Germany had been given a mixed reception, with the Madrid captain having struggled to make an impact this season.
   He did score the equaliser against Tunisia to inspire Spain to a 3-1 triumph in their second group game. Despite the setback, Raul is determined to bounce back.
   ‘I want to continue to play for the national team,’ he said.
   ‘I hope that I will be called up by this coach or whoever takes over.
   ‘That is my intention and what happened tonight doesn’t change this.’

FIFA president Sepp Blatter praised Germany’s World Cup as the best ever in a newspaper interview to appear on Thursday.
   ‘This is the best World Cup of all time,’ Blatter told Berlin’s Der Tagesspiegel newspaper, according to an advance released on Wednesday.
   ‘Never before has an event been presented in such an emotional and global manner,’ he added. ‘And from a sporting point of view we’re also getting the highest quality.’
   Blatter said the enthusiasm for the Germany team was giving coach Juergen Klinsmann’s players a major lift. ‘The Germany team is being carried by the enthusiasm in the country,’ he said. ‘I’m beginning to ask myself: ‘Who can stop these Germans?’
   ‘Today, all the critics have to say ‘Chapeau Herr Klinsmann’. I say that too.’

Luiz Felipe Scolari has hired Portuguese football legend Eusebio to be his ‘mental coach’.
   Boss Scolari first took on Eusebio, 64, after his Portugal side lost to Greece in the Euro 2004 final - and he claims the country’s most famous footballer has made them an even better team.
   Scolari said: ‘We lost in the Euro 2004 final and I had to look at ways to improve the players’ attitude, spirit and belief.
   ‘That is the best way to improve an international player as they are already at the top level in terms of skill. I now use Eusebio as my ‘mental trainer’ as he gives the players great confidence, especially when they see what he has done as a player.
   ‘The players know him, look up to him and respect him but now he works with them, talks to them in training and gives them belief. He has achieved so much in his career with Benfica and Portugal that they can learn from him and the way he had mental strength as well as skill.

Wayne Rooney is feeling no pressure from the weight of expectations on his young shoulders and says he is willing to play anywhere if it means England win the World Cup.
   At his first press conference since breaking a bone in his foot on April 29, the Manchester United striker said he was getting fitter and better by the day.
   ‘It’s good to be here and back with the lads and we have done well so far. I’m just really pleased to be here and want to just try and help win the competition,’ he said at England’s training camp in southern Germany.
   ‘I’ve always been positive from the day I got injured. My main aim was to take part and I’ve played in three or four games already. I’m really happy with that and hopefully I can play another three games.’
   Rooney is a vital cog in the England machine and his return to action in the group stages was greeted with a surge in expectations that England can win their first World Cup in 40 years despite lacklustre form.
   Much rests on how the 20-year-old performs, but he insists he is just another member of the team which he said was packed with potential match winners.
   ‘In the previous games we haven’t really played to our best and we have managed to get the results we needed, and hopefully that will continue and we keep getting the results,’ he said.
   ‘Myself and the rest of the players know it’s a 23-man squad and it takes everyone to win the World Cup and you just have to get on with it, and hopefully win the World Cup.
   ‘We’ve got a lot of match winners in the team—Joe Cole, Steve Gerrard, Frank Lampard, there’s a lot of players who can take the game by the scruff of the neck and win the game for us.
   ‘I’m just part of the squad and just want to do the best I can for the team.’
   With Michael Owen out injured, coach Sven-Goran Eriksson played Rooney up front on his own in the second round game against Ecuador and said Wednesday he has made up his mind which formation to play against Portugal on Saturday.
   The Swede refused to reveal what that was, but Rooney said he’d play anywhere, whether in the lone striker role or partnering Peter Crouch.
   ‘As long as we keep winning I’ll play anywhere the manager wants me to, whether that’s on my own up front or in a two, I’m happy to do that,’ he said.
   Rooney was a controversial choice when he joined the England squad with many feeling he was not fit enough to take part in a World Cup and Eriksson was widely criticised.
   Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson urged him not to rush Rooney’s return, but his star player said he always knew he would be ready.
   ‘I know when I’m ready to play, the physios and the people that matter know when I’m ready to play,’ he said.
   ‘There’s a lot of stuff got written in the press wrongly, and that happens, but I was always confident and I knew when I wanted to play and when I was fit to play.’

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has warned his players not to rise to any provocation from Portugal in their quarter-final on Saturday, wary that referees are brandishing cards on a whim.
   The Swede convened a team meeting at their hotel here on Tuesday evening for a pep talk about the antics of Portugal, whose last game against the Netherlands descended into chaos with 16 yellow cards and four red.
   A FIFA delegate was also present at the meeting to discuss the finer points of refereeing at the tournament, British press reports said.
   The official in charge of the Portugal-Netherlands match described it as ‘brutal’ while Dutch coach Marco van Basten complained about the ‘experience, tricks and time-wasting’ employed by Luiz Felipe Scolaris side.
   Eriksson has told his team not to react to any theatrics from Portugal, particularly John Terry, Jamie Carragher and Paul Robinson who are on yellow cards from the Ecuador game.
   So far, England’s experienced and disciplined squad have escaped any serious problems with referees although a number of the players are not happy with the standard of officiating.
   Owen Hargreaves and Rio Ferdinand have urged whoever takes charge of their clash with Portugal in Gelsenkirchen to let the game flow and keep the yellow cards to a minimum.
   ‘The referees have been very tough, in my opinion over tough,’ said Ferdinand at England’s training camp in southern Germany.
   ‘A lot of tackles that have been booked, well the yellow cards have been handed out too freely.
   ‘But that’s the way it goes and we’ve got to deal with that and the team that deals with that best will be the team that wins.’
   Hargreaves said some of the decisions made at the World Cup have been hard to understand and called for a free-flowing game on Saturday.
   ‘All the referees, just like the players, you’ve got the best refs in the world,’ he said.
   ‘But I think some decisions have been hard for some of the players to understand because they have been blowing the whistle so much.
   ‘Obviously it’s important for the players that the ref has a good day and lets the players play because it is very difficult to get a flow to the game if it’s stopped every 30 seconds.’
   The referee for the England-Portugal game has yet to be announced.
   England returned to the training ground Wednesday after two days off following their draining 1-0 win over Ecuador in Stuttgart on Sunday, with their only concern being Gary Neville’s recovery from a calf injury.
   The influential Manchester United defender has missed the last three games but trained on his own with the England physio on Tuesday and with the team on Wednesday.
   Assistant manager Steve McClaren has said he should be in contention for Saturday.
   Portugal head into the match without midfielders Deco and Costinha who were sent off against the Netherlands but knowing they have the edge after beating England in the quarters at Euro 2004.

Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said England would not be out to prove a point with Portugal coach and familiar foe Luiz Felipe Scolari in their World Cup quarter-final.
   Scolari has proved England’s nemesis in their past two tournaments, steering Portugal to a Euro 2004 quarter-final victory and Brazil to a win at the same stage of the 2002 World Cup against Eriksson’s men.
   ‘Big Phil’, as he is known in his native Brazil, also broke off talks two months ago with the Football Association about becoming Eriksson’s successor after the finals.
   Looking ahead to the game in Gelsenkirchen, Eriksson told a news conference on Wednesday: ‘I’m sure, 100 per cent, when the game starts on Saturday they couldn’t care less who is the manager of the opponents’ team.
   ‘They have to think about the job they have to do out there. They are going to be very well prepared for everything.
   ‘I strongly believe that we will win. I always believe that. We are in the quarter-final and we want desperately to play in the semi-final.’
   Eriksson believes England are in a stronger position to take on Scolari’s side than they were two years ago and will not allow their exit to affect them this weekend.
   ‘We lost that game on a penalty shootout,’ he pointed out.
   ‘I have said for a long time that we have a better squad, a better team than we had two years and four years ago. That’s why I’m confident and the players are confident.’
   Portugal will be missing two key midfielders through suspension, Deco and Costinha, with Eriksson expecting Luis Figo to take Deco’s playmaking role against England.
   ‘Deco is a fantastic player and I think Costinha as well is important for them as a holding midfielder,’ he said.
   ‘Of course it’s a pity every time you lose some players. ‘We missed Michael Owen, but that’s life in football.’

Sven-Goran Eriksson insists he will not be motivated by revenge when he comes up against old foe Luiz Felipe Scolari yet again. And that, say the critics, is part of his problem.
   Eriksson and England have been dumped out of two major tournaments by teams coached by Scolari, losing to Brazil in the 2002 World Cup before exiting to Portugal two years later at Euro 2004.
   Now the burly Brazilian is blocking Eriksson’s path once again as England and Portugal prepare for a match that is being billed as a clash between Mr Motivator and Mr Magoo.
   But although Scolari has proved to be Eriksson’s nemesis in two meetings so far—and would have been his successor as England coach had he not rebuffed the FA’s advances last month—Eriksson is putting personal rivalry to one side ahead of Saturday’s match in Gelsenkirchen.
   ‘I am not a man of revenge,’ Eriksson said. ‘It’s not a word in my head,’ he added, unconcerned that his answer highlights a mild-mannered nature that critics say has become a weakness.
   A more charismatic coach, the theory goes, would be driven by a burning desire to avoid a third straight defeat in major tournaments to a bitter rival, using past failures as a powerful motivational tool.
   Instead Eriksson talks of not being motivated by revenge and treating Saturday’s quarter-final as just another game.
   A perceived failure to communicate passion to his players at crucial moments, most notably at half-time in the 2002 World Cup quarter-final against Brazil, is one of the most damning accusations levelled at Eriksson.
   ‘We needed Winston Churchill and instead we got Iain Duncan-Smith,’ lamented one England player of Eriksson’s half-time team-talk in Shizuoka, in an unflattering comparison to the hapless former leader of Britain’s Conservative Party.
   The passionate, arm-waving Scolari, meanwhile, is revered by Eriksson’s critics because he is everything that the undemonstrative Swede isn’t.
   ‘I don’t play, I don’t score goals,’ said Scolari when asked to sum up his input from the bench to Portugal’s bruising win over the Netherlands on Sunday.
   ‘Sometimes the players look outside and they see their group through the face of their coach and they know that even all those on their bench are playing. Maybe I can give an extra yard to a player on the field that wins the game. That’s the spirit that I have. That is what I have done with Portugal.’
   Admirers of Scolari believe he would have turned England’s squad into a team of world-beaters instead of serial under-achievers, citing his larger-than-life personality, tactical onus and willingness to take difficult decisions.
   At Euro 2004, Scolari substituted Portugal’s captain Luis Figo. Eriksson, by contrast, continues to regard the position of his captain David Beckham as sacroscant despite an undeniable waning of the midfielder’s powers.
   Scolari is also seen as a vastly superior tactician.
   In both encounters between the two coaches, Scolari has shown an ability to think on his feet that has left Eriksson floundering.
   He reorganised Brazil superbly when reduced to 10 men against England in 2002 and made crucial substitutions that changed the course of the game in Lisbon two years ago.
   Scolari will need to draw on all his improvisational powers once more on Saturday as he attempts to rebuild a midfield that has been depleted by suspension to playmaker Deco and holding player Costinha.
   Eriksson’s last chance to put one over on Scolari might be just be his best.

Two former referees visited England at their hotel ahead of their World Cup quarter-final with Portugal to hammer home tough FIFA rules that have seen a slew of red and yellow cards brandished.
   The visit followed Portugal’s last game against the Netherlands descending into chaos with 16 yellow cards and four red shown.
   The official in charge described the match as ‘brutal’ while Dutch coach Marco van Basten complained that the ‘experience, tricks and time-wasting’ employed by Luiz Felipe Scolaris side contributed to the problem. England go into the match with John Terry, Jamie Carragher and Paul Robinson on yellow cards from the Ecuador game, and fears they could fall victim to Portuguese theatrics.
   British press reports said England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson called a meeting Tuesday to warn his players not to rise to any provocation, although the Swede played this down on Wednesday.
   ‘I’m not concerned about provocation. It is an important football game for us and Portugal and I think we will win but I think the Portugal manager thinks they will win. That’s fair, that’s good,’ he said.
   ‘The two ex-referees were talking about the new interpretations of the rules. It’s the second time they have come.
   ‘They showed some videos for half an hour. They talked about handball, about the offside rule, they talked about tackles, where the tolerance level is much less for yellow and red cards.’
   So far, England’s experienced and disciplined squad have escaped any serious problems with referees although a number of the players are not happy with the standard of officiating.
   Owen Hargreaves and Rio Ferdinand have urged whoever takes charge of their clash with Portugal in Gelsenkirchen to let the game flow and keep the yellow cards to a minimum.
   ‘The referees have been very tough, in my opinion over tough,’ said Ferdinand at England’s training camp in southern Germany.
   ‘A lot of tackles that have been booked, well the yellow cards have been handed out too freely.
   ‘But that’s the way it goes and we’ve got to deal with that and the team that deals with that best will be the team that wins.’
   Hargreaves said some of the decisions made at the World Cup have been hard to understand and called for a free-flowing game on Saturday.
   ‘All the referees, just like the players, you’ve got the best refs in the world,’ he said.
   ‘But I think some decisions have been hard for some of the players to understand because they have been blowing the whistle so much.
   ‘Obviously it’s important for the players that the ref has a good day and lets the players play because it is very difficult to get a flow to the game if it’s stopped every 30 seconds.’
   The referee for the England-Portugal game was due to be announced Wednesday.
   England returned to the training ground after two days off following their draining 1-0 win over Ecuador in Stuttgart on Sunday, with their only concern being Gary Neville’s recovery from a calf injury. The influential Manchester United defender has missed the last three games but trained on his own with the England physio on Tuesday and with the team on Wednesday.
   Eriksson said he should be in contention on Saturday.
   Portugal head into the match without midfielders Deco and Costinha who were sent off against the Netherlands but knowing they have the edge after beating England in the quarters at Euro 2004.

Deco has dismissed claims Wayne Rooney is the Pele of the 21st Century.
   Portugal’s Brazilian-born midfielder said: ‘I can’t even translate my reaction to that.
   ‘He is a very young player with a lot of qualities. But comparing him to Pele is a little too much.’
   England striker Rooney is itching to punish Portugal to confirm his recovery from a broken foot and fire England into the semi-finals.
   Sven Goran Eriksson has described Manchester United’s ace as ‘the best young player since Pele.’
   But Portugal chief Big Phil Scolari, a Brazilian, scoffed: ‘One is white, the other is black.
   ‘Rooney is an excellent player but Pele is unique. There will never be another Pele — not even in a computer game.’
   Deco misses Saturday’s showdown with England after being sent off in the 1-0 win over Holland.
    The playmaker hoped to have one of his yellow cards scrubbed but FIFA told Portugal not to bother appealing.

Sri Lanka (318/7) against England
   Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene scored his second hundred in as many matches as the tourists made 318 for seven in the fourth one-day international against England at Old Trafford here Wednesday.
   Jayawardene made exactly 100 after scoring an unbeaten 126 in Sri Lanka’s crushing eight-wicket win at the Riverside on Saturday where the 1996 world champions took an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match international series.
   But he rode his luck here as England twice dropped the stylish right-hander early in his innings.
   An unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 68 in 38 balls between Farveez Maharoof (38 not out) and Malinga Bandard (28 not out) led Sri Lanka past the 300-mark after injury-hit England, who had lost eight of their previous 10 one-day internationals, had threatened to pull things back.
   Recalled seamer Kabir Ali bore the brunt of the assault, his 10 wicketless overs costing 77 runs with 20 off his last, including two sixes by Maharoof - the first taking him to a maiden fifty at this level.
   Bandara, who also drove Kabir for six, faced 21 balls with three fours.
   England’s cause was not helped by the return of their wide problem. Having bowled 44 in the first two matches of this series, they cut down to six at the Riverside. But here they sent down 21 wides, nine from Stephen Harmison alone.
   Off-spinner James Dalrymple led the attack with two for 44 in 10 overs.
   England, with the series lost, made four changes.
   They gave a one-day international debut to batsman Alastair Cook, in for the injured Kevin Pietersen (knee), while Vikram Solanki replaced Paul Collingwood (thigh).
   Kabir Ali got his first chance this series after fellow quick Sajid Mahmood was dropped while seamer Tim Bresnan returned at the expense of off-spinner Alex Loudon.
   After Jayawardene won the toss, Kabir, playing his first one-day international since facing India at Indore in April, saw his first two deliveries cut for four by Sanath Jayasuriya.
   But his trademark shot proved the undoing of the veteran left-hander when, on 14, he guided Harmison to Dalrymple at third man, Sri Lanka 23 for one.
   England though then dropped Jayawardene on seven and 27.
   Jayawardene then completed a 32-ball fifty and soon afterwards opener Tharanga reached the same landmark, off 60 balls.
   England stand-in captain Andrew Strauss rotated his bowlers and eventually the breakthrough came when Tharanga chipped Dalrymple to Solanki at short extra-cover.
   Either side of a brief rain break, Sri Lanka lost three middle-order batsmen for seven apiece, including experienced wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara.
   Jayawardene though pressed on to an 82 ball hundred with nine fours courtesy of a pulled boundary off medium-pacer Ian Bell. It was his eighth at this level and fourth against England.
   But to his next ball Jayawardene gave the impressive Dalrymple an easy return catch, Sri Lanka 220 for six in the 37th over before their late surge.

Russian former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova stormed through to the second round of the tournament with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Israel’s Anna Smashnova on Wednesday.
   Sharapova was rarely troubled by Smashnova, who held her serve only once throughout the 51-minute mismatch.
   The number four seed now faces American Ashley Harkleroad or Croatia’s Jelena Kostanic in her quest to reclaim the title she won in 2004 to make her the darling of the Wimbledon crowd.
   Belgian second seed Kim Clijsters reached the Wimbledon third round without hitting a ball when her opponent Viktoria Kutuzova of Ukraine had to withdraw from their round of 64 match because of a virus.
   Clijsters now faces either China’s Zheng Jie or Eva Birnerova of the Czech Republic for a place in the fourth round.
   World number one Amelie Mauresmo declared the women’s singles at this year’s Wimbledon ‘wide open’ after marching into the second round.
   Mauresmo was detained for only 39 minutes on Court Two as she completed a 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Croatian qualifier Ivana Abramovic.
   Thailand's Danai Udomchoke was defeated in straight sets by 27th seed Dmitry Tursunov in the first round.
   The 25-year-old from Bangkok failed to deal with the Russian's powerful serving and groundstrokes and slipped to a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 defeat in one hour and twenty minutes.
   Tursunov will now meet Spain's Alberto Martin, who beat Italy's Alessio Di Mauro 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 on Court 11, for a place in the third round.
   Peng Shuai became the third Chinese woman to reach the Wimbledon second round as the Asian superpower tries to match its French Open performance at the All England Club.
   Four Chinese girls made it through to the second round at Roland Garros earlier this month with Li Na, the top ranked player, surviving until the round of 32.
   Peng booked her place with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Greece's Eleni Daniilidou and now plays Israel's 20th seed Shahar Peer for a spot in the next round.
   Two of the Chinese contingent were beaten on Tuesday with French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, the third seed, beating Yuan Meng 6-0, 6-1 while Russian 30th seed Anna Chakvetadze saw off Yan Zi 6-3, 6-2.
   Venus Williams began her bid for a fourth Wimbledon title with a 6-1, 6-0 win over fellow American Bethanie Mattek.
   The defending champion and sixth seed will now face another compatriot, Lisa Raymond, for a place in the third round.
   Russian Nikolay Davydenko became the highest men's seed to exit Wimbledon so far when the number nine lost 2-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3 to Colombian qualifier Alejandro Falla.
   The Russian was level at one-set all overnight but on Wednesday's resumption Falla, the world number 127 and Colombia's only representative in the men's singles, dominated on court two. The left-hander plays German Philipp Kohlschreiber next.
   Lleyton Hewitt began his Wimbledon campaign in fine style by beating Italian Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.
   The Australian, the champion here in 2002, next faces either Korean Lee Hyung-Taik or Flavio Saretta of Brazil.
   Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic, the fifth seed, reached the Wimbledon second round with a marathon 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 11-9 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez.
   Ljubicic now faces America's Justin Gimelstob for a place in the third round.

The name B Becker was once enough to strike fear into the heart of any opponent in the Wimbledon draw.
   Now there’s another B Becker here, also German, and he’s blasted his way into the second round.
   Germany’s Boris Becker won his first Wimbledon title as a 17-year-old in 1985 and now his compatriot Benjamin Becker is hoping he can do the same more than 20 years on.
   ‘A lot of people when they see B. Becker they think all of a sudden of Boris and people are joking with me, saying, ‘Hey, Boris!’—and I would do the same,’ the 25-year-old qualifier told AFP.
   ‘It’s coincidence. I’m not related—sorry, everyone.
   ‘I don’t take it too seriously. Unless it gets too much or too personal but it hasn’t been like that, I just laugh about it. It’s been two weeks since everybody’s been making a big deal of it. I am prepared mentally for it. I know people will ask me about it every time.’
   Boris Becker became the youngest man to win Wimbledon in 1985, won it again in 1987 and 1989 and was four times a losing finalist.
   ‘It’s tough to emulate his achievements but if I get a little bit of what he achieved then I will be very pleased with myself,’ Benjamin Becker said.
   ‘He’s a big hero for me, he always played great here in Wimbledon so it’s really fun for me to win my first match here too.’
   The world number 161 beat Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to earn himself a second round tie against Spanish 28th seed Fernando Verdasco.
   ‘I still haven’t realised that I’m in the second round at Wimbledon. It was a dream come true just to be in the main draw after qualifying. I just tried to tell myself that it’s just a normal match.
   ‘It’s a relief. You come out here and play your first grand slam and play a player you’ve only ever watched on television.
   ‘I am excited—though I’m more happy about the last match than looking forward to the next match!,’ he joked.

The glory of victory, the agony of defeat: Wimbledon’s top stars are going through all the extremes of emotion. But not during the thrills and spills of their own matches—many of them are hooked on the football World Cup.
   Swiss superstars Roger Federer and Martina Hingis had plenty to smile about after they breezed through to the second round.
   But they were both down in the dumps about Switzerland’s dismal defeat on penalties to Ukraine.
   ‘It was a big pity. I’m very disappointed,’ said reigning Wimbledon champion Federer.
   Hingis refused to say whether she thought she could do any better than the Swiss penalty takers, who missed all their kicks.
   ‘I don’t want to say something which could turn against me,’ the former world number one said.
   ‘It was a great match, a great battle. Unfortunately, not the right outcome for us.’
   Scotland’s rising tennis star Andy Murray is known for having little time for all things English—and directed a furious glance at one Centre Court supporter who shouted ‘Come on England’ as he was about to serve during his first round match.
   But even he predicted England would beat Portugal in the quarter-finals.
   ‘I’m going to go 1-1, England on penalties,’ the feisty teen said.
   ‘It’s going to be interesting. I think England are probably slight favourites after the Portuguese got the sendings off and then Cristiano Ronaldo got injured.
   ‘England had a pretty tough match with them at the European Championships. I’m sure it will be a close match, hopefully a few goals.’
   Fellow Brit Tim Henman—an Englishman—said the referees at the World Cup were having as bad a time as the Wimbledon umpires.
   ‘Sort of questioning whether the umpires are having a little bit of a bad time. I think the referees are having a pretty suspect time in Germany at the moment.’
   He added: ‘I think we’ll win.’
   Thai tennis star Tamarine Tanasugarn is roaring on England to thrash Portugal and go all the way to glory.
   ‘I watch every match,’ the world number 164 told AFP.
   ‘Thais are crazy about Manchester United and Liverpool so I know all the English players—that’s why I’m rooting for England to win the World Cup.
   ‘I also like Brazil too, they’re a very tough team.’
   Argeninian number four seed David Nalbandian said he hoped his countrymen would not forget all about him as Argentina face hosts Germany in their quarter-final.
   ‘Soccer is the biggest sport in the world,’ he admitted.
   ‘Most of the people are watching the World Cup. Of course, a lot of people went to Germany to see it. But I think there are a few fans that always follow tennis, so they are going to follow the tennis as well.
   ‘The Argentinian people, they don’t forget that we are playing Wimbledon, so they want to watch us,’ he said.

England’s Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson may be scratching his head as to how he can end his quarter-final jinx at major tournaments when up against Portugal’s coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, but there are plenty of precedents to give him heart.
   Eriksson has seen his English side lose to Scolari’s Brazil side in the 2002 World Cup and then to a Scolari-coached Portugal in Euro 2004 - but he does not have to search too far from perfidious Albion to take comfort.
   The English cricket team - like their footballing counterparts coached by a foreigner in the form of Zimbabwean Duncan Fletcher - showed the way last year ending bitter rivals Australia’s 18-year hold on the Ashes with a come from behind 2-1 series win.
   ‘It was a hell of a lot of hard work but they believed in themselves and they expressed themselves out on the pitch,’ was England’s inspirational captain Michael Vaughan’s appraisal of why they had turned things around so dramatically. While England’s Ashes victory was exhilarating viewing, there are other losing runs that come to an end that provoke more disappointment than joy.
   This was to happen to the great Moroccan athlete Hicham El Guerrouj - probably the greatest ever middle distance runner - when odds-on favourite to win the 2000 Olympics 1500 metres title in Sydney. Leading into the straight he looked destined to confirm four years of dominance with the ultimate title until the vastly-improved Kenyan Noah Ngeny produced a devastating final burst of speed to pass the Moroccan and breast the line in first place to record his first and last triumph over him.
   There was no consoling El Guerrouj, who had fallen at the bell when just the young pretender at the 1996 Olympic final.
   ‘Four years ago I fell in Atlanta and for four years I kept the photograph of that moment so I could bring it here and tear it up when I won the title,’ he said tearfully at the time.
   ‘Now I will have to keep it for another four years but I will prevail because I am Hicham the great and still the best runner in the distance.’
   There are those, however, that no matter how long they are beaten by an opponent just never give up hope such as the late, top tennis star of the 70’s Vitas Gerulaitis. The American with the deep blue eyes and flowing blond hair at last bested Jimmy Connors in the elite Masters series year-ending tournament after 17 successive defeats to him.
   Gerulaitis, for whom the word charisma seemed created for, fixed a journalist with a beady stare when asked how he had managed to at last beat Connors.
   ‘Nobody but nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 18 times in a row,’ came the legendary reply.

Test batsman Robert Key was named Wednesday as captain of the England A team to face Pakistan in a four-day match at the Kent cricketer’s Canterbury home ground starting on July 6.
   Key, who led England A to victory against Sri Lanka earlier in the season, will captain a side which includes five other players with Test experience in what will be Pakistan’s final tour match before the first of a four-Test series starts at Lord’s on July 13.
   ‘This is a strong England A team which we believe will provide Pakistan with tough opposition at the start of their tour and allow the selectors to measure the development of players on the fringe of selection for the full England side,’ said David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors.
   Current Test batsmen Ian Bell and Alastair Cook, Middlesex’s Owais Shah, leading swing bowler Matthew Hoggard and wicket-keeper Chris Read are the five other players in the team, apart from Key, who have played cricket for England at the highest level.
   ‘Ian Bell, Alastair Cook and Matthew Hoggard have also been included in the squad as we felt it was important that they should all play a four-day game in the period leading up to the selection of the squad for the first npower Test against Pakistan,’ Graveney added.
   Also included were off-spinners James Dalrymple and Alex Loudon and seamer Tim Bresnan, who have all featured during the ongoing one-day series between England and Sri Lanka.
   And promising Leicestershire pace bowler Stuart Broad, the son of former England opening batsman Chris, made it into the team as well.
   England A: Robert Key (capt), Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, James Dalrymple, Matthew Hoggard, Alex Loudon, Chris Read (wkt), Owais Shah.

Former Samata Party leader and mother-in-law of former Test player Ajay Jadeja, Jaya Jaitley feels the chances of the Rajasthan captain making a comeback to the national squad were remote.
   However, the prospects of coaching a state team or even the 'Men in Blue' in future were still alive, she added.
   ‘He has crossed 30 and keeping in mind present Indian cricket scene, where youngsters are breaking into the team with every new series, it is hard to imagine Ajay making a comeback in Team India,’ the former Samata Party president told.
   ‘Ajay is doing a great job as an expert commentator for a news channel. If he keeps up his good work as captain of the Rajasthan cricket team, he stands good chance of even becoming coach of the future Indian side,’ maintained Jaya.
   Jaya also reiterated that Ajay, who saw his cricketing career spoilt due to the match-fixing controversy was a ‘victim of conspiracy’ of the Indian cricketing establishment.

The full impact of Sachin Tendulkar's injuries and a prolonged form slump was known on Wednesday with the batting star slipping out of the top 20 in Test batsmen's rankings for the first time in 14 years.
   Tendulkar has managed to remain among the top 20 batsmen since 1992 and the fall in his rankings had as much to do with his missing the tour of West Indies due to a shoulder surgery as his poor run in the past few months.
   While missing the series in Caribbean counts against Tendulkar, his Test match form in the last couple of years has been well below his career peak, his world record 35th Test ton against Sri Lanka late last year notwithstanding.
   The Mumbai batsman averages just 28 in his last 10 Tests compared with an overall average of 55.39.
   And while Tendulkar's mark of 650 rating points may have been enough to put him in the top 20 in times gone by, it is not enough now with other batsmen in world cricket scoring heavily.

The second phase of the Pink City Cricket Talent Hunting Programme will begin in Dhaka on July 15, said a media release of the hosts Five P Events and the Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh on Wednesday.
   The selected players from the first phase, which concluded in Manikganj on June 24, will participate in the second phase. As many as 14,000 cricketers participated in the first phase held in different districts starting from May 19.

Pakistan (205/5) beat Scotland (203/8) by 5 wickets
   Pakistan began their UK tour by beating Scotland by five wickets in a one-day international at The Grange here Tuesday.
   Pakistan, set 204 to win, finished on 205 for five after Mohammad Yousuf scored 83 not out and Abdul Razzaq 49 not out.
   Thoughts of minnows Scotland, who have qualified for next year’s World Cup in the West Indies, pulling off one of cricket’s great upsets were ignited when they reduced Pakistan to 93 for five before an unbroken stand of 112 between Yousuf and Razzaq saw the visitors to victory.
   Scotland, who had been 20 for four, recovered well thanks to a partnership of 118 between Ryan Watson (80) and Neil McCallum (68). Pakistan continue their tour with a three-day match against Leicestershire at Grace Road commencing Saturday.

Somerset hit the highest score in the brief history of Twenty20 as they began the defence of their title with a 117-run victory over Gloucestershire.
   Skipper Cameron White hit 116 off 53 balls and fellow Aussie Justin Langer 90 off 46 as they amassed 250-3.
   That score easily beat their 228-5 in 2005 against the same opponents, also at Taunton, and Gloucestershire were soon rocked by Charl Willoughby (4-30). They fell to 56-6 and though Jon Lewis blasted 43 they were dismissed for 133. Langer and Matthew Wood notched 50 for the first wicket in five overs but it was nothing compared with what followed when White came to the crease.
   He produced a devastating display of clean hitting, crashing nine huge sixes as Gloucestershire kept putting the ball in the slot for him.
   Veteran opener Langer was no slouch either, but played correctly as he picked up 10 fours and four maximums of his own in a partnership of 186 with White - another record for Twenty20 cricket.

Attending almost every game at the 2006 World Cup may be an impossible task for most but for the legendary Franz Beckenbauer, president of the Organising Committee, and his team, it's a job made all the more easier thanks to the use of a helicopter sponsored exclusively by Emirates, an official partner of the World Cup.
   No matter if the match is in Berlin, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Kaiserslautern, Cologne, Leipzig, Nuremberg or Stuttgart, Germany's most famous football icon has the busiest diary of anyone involved with the world's greatest sporting occasion. And with the now familiar sight of the Emirates-sponsored helicopter – an Augusta 109 Power E – hovering over the 12 stadiums, 'Der Kaiser' remains on course to take in a staggering 48 of the 64 matches.
   Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline & Group, said the Dubai-based international airline was proud to be able to assist Beckenbauer and the organising committee in making the World Cup a success.
   ‘In his function as Emirates global ambassador for sport and social activities, Franz Beckenbauer has been closely connected to us for many years,’ said Sheikh Ahmed.

Germans are not known as the friendliest of people but the host nation has seized the chance offered by the World Cup to change that perception.
   Visiting football fans from around the world have been surprised to discover exuberant, fun-loving and friendly hosts rather than the cliche of a cold, humourless and uptight nation.
   ‘You think about them as a people who are very tough and hard,’ said Victor Luque, an actuary from Mexico City.
   The reality Luque and his father discovered following the Mexico team around Germany was very different.
   ‘In the streets, outside the stadiums, in the hotels—people have been very friendly,’ said Luque, 31, travelling on a train between the cities of Leipzig and Berlin.
   As one of the tournament organisers’ aims was to change the way Germany is viewed abroad, the positive impressions fans take home may be more important than the result of any game.
   Central to the feel-good atmosphere have been open-air fan fests all over the country, where millions of supporters have gathered to watch the matches on big screens, with cheap food and drink on sale and the police presence kept low-key.
   ‘I’m surprised at how warm the welcome has been,’ said Swiss fan Daniel Zueger, clad entirely in red with Swiss flags painted on his cheeks and a velvet top hat also featuring the flag.
   ‘I didn’t expect this as the relationship between the Swiss and the Germans is not all that good,’ he said in Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion before his team played Togo in a group game.
   ‘The atmosphere at the fan party in the city is great.’
   Even seasoned football professionals have been impressed.
   ‘There is one thing I feel very strongly here in Germany and that is that friendship is not an empty word,’ said Roger Lemerre, Tunisia’s veteran French coach. ‘I think the German people have succeeded in bringing together all the nations.’
   The friendly atmosphere has not come about entirely by chance, however. It is partly the product of a trait which will continue to be associated with Germany—thoroughness.
   Officials saw a chance to brighten the national image, long darkened by its Nazi past, and present a modern, relaxed Germany at ease with itself 16 years after unification.
   ‘The whole world expected us to be good organisers,’ said Gerd Graus, a spokesman for the organising committee.
   ‘We always said our big challenge is to show the world that this is a country which is open to the world, that it is a tolerant country,’ he said.
   That idea has been behind not just the Fan Fests but everything from the ubiquitous logo featuring three brightly coloured smiling faces to the slogan ‘A Time To Make Friends’.
   Commentators may ponder whether Germany was always always friendlier than its reputation, whether Germans have become more laid-back in recent years and whether the current good cheer is more of a temporary phenomenon caused by the World Cup.
   But Germans have certainly taken the ‘Time To Make Friends’ message to heart.
   In the southern town of Oehringen, the base for the Australian team, locals decked out the town with Australian flags, shops filled their windows with stuffed kangaroos and koalas while bakeries sold little kangaroo-shaped pastries.
   Three Australian men dressed as kangaroos put the hosts’ hospitality to a serious test when they asked two policemen to pretend to run them over in a patrol car for a comic home movie.
   But the police were happy to oblige.

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro has put his excellent World Cup form down to a good diet, plenty of sleep and a healthy sex life.
   The 32-year-old Juventus defender was outstanding in their hard-fought 1-0 second round win over Australia on Monday, which earned them a place in the quarter-finals.
   Italy had to play with 10 men for almost the entire second half after Marco Materazzi was sent off, but a clean-living Cannavaro superbly marshalled the defence as the Azzurri keep their third clean sheet in four matches.
   ‘For an athlete it’s as important how you behave off the pitch as you do on it,’ Cannavaro said at Tuesday’s press conference.
   ‘Eating well, getting plenty of sleep and having sex - all of these things are important.
   ‘You body needs the right fuel to keep going. I don’t smoke and I don’t drink alcohol, I’ve never liked it. I live a normal, healthy life.
   ‘I’ve been disciplined for many years and that has served me well.’
   Asked how often he has sex, Cannavaro replied: ‘Whenever I want to, it helps me.’
   Cannavaro, who has also played for Parma and Inter Milan in Serie A, blushed after he was told that Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon had described him as the best defender at the World Cup.
   ‘That makes me feel good,’ he said. ‘Me and Gigi have played together for many years.
   ‘We started out together as youngsters around the same time and he’s seen my development as a player.
   ‘He’s knows my strengths and my weaknesses. When a compliment like that comes from someone like him, it’s worth more to me.’
   Cannavaro has been imperious at the World Cup, but the Naples-born centre-back insisted coach Marcello Lippi had to take a great deal of credit for getting Italy to the last eight.
   ‘He makes everyone feel involved and is very attentive,’ Cannavaro said.
   ‘When something needs to be said, he says it straight to your face. Some like it and some don’t, it depends on the individual, but we all know where we stand with him.’
   Cannavaro was angered by suggestions that Italy, for whom Francesco Totti’s 95th-minute penalty sealed victory against the Aussies, were fortunate to be in the quarter-finals.
   ‘It annoys me when people say that we are lucky,’ he said.
   ‘Against Australia we had six or seven opportunities to score, and people still say we were lucky. It was Australia who were lucky because they had 11 men against 10.’
   With Alessandro Nesta nursing a groin strain and Materazzi suspended, Andrea Barzagli is expected to start alongside Cannavaro at the heart of Italy’s defence in Friday’s quarter-final against in Hamburg against the Ukraine.
   Barzagli came on as a substitute against the Aussies and Cannavaro has no doubts the 25-year-old Palermo centre-back can handle the pressure of making his first start at the World Cup.
   ‘I know he can do it,’ Cannavaro said.

The French press on Wednesday hailed their national team’s achievement in rolling back the years and qualifying for the World Cup quarter-finals with a thrilling come-from-behind win over Spain.
   Newspapers hailed the return of the much-maligned ‘Captain Fantastic’ Zinedine Zidane who orchestrated the 3-1 victory at the age of 34, eight years after leading France to the 1998 title.
   Zidane had come under fire in the group stages for ineffectual performances and for getting himself suspended for the crucial first-round match against Togo.
   But all is forgiven now.
   ‘Giant!’ screamed le Parisien with a full-page picture of a grinning Zidane after scoring the third goal in Hanover.
   ‘Les Bleus are back: like the best moments of 1998, the French team brilliantly qualified for the World Cup quarter-finals.
   ‘Thanks to goals from (Frank) Ribery, (Patrick) Vieira and a Zidane back to his best, (Raymond) Domenech’s men will play a revengeful Brazil on Saturday.’
   Expectations have soared in every newspaper as they all made allusions to France’s victorious 1998 campaign, when they beat Brazil in the final, and the successful European Championships challenge two years later.
   ‘Happiness!’ said sports daily L’Equipe, using a full-page picture of a pile of French players celebrating Vieira’s goal.
   France were ‘impressive and dominant, like in their glory years’, it added.
   ‘We must take a moment to reflect on what happened yesterday in Hanover in one of those marvellous reminders of yesteryear.
   ‘Trailing 1-0, the France team rediscovered all its virtues which we had feared were lost forever: collective domination, solidity, solidarity, hunger for battle, endurance, effectiveness. And pride!’
   Some were less euphoric, like Le Figaro which reminded the country of the team’s laboured performance in the first round before adding: ‘Finally they have succeeded in the most convincing fashion.’
   L’Est Republican sounded a warning that ‘Zidane’s Les Bleus will not change the world’, but then allowed themselves to enjoy the moment: ‘They may not make it to the next round but in overcoming Spain they reminded us that France can reach the highest level.’
   Even beleaguered French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin took the opportunity to reflect on the team’s glory, saying: ‘I feel only happiness, just happiness.’

David Beckham had plenty to feel sick about Tuesday night — after another stomach-churning attack from a German paper.
   He was mocked for throwing up at the Ecuador game and dubbed ‘David Brecham’ after the German word for vomit — ‘brechen’.
   Vile rag Bild even hurled abuse at the England team by suggesting Becks chucked up because they played such sickening soccer.
   The paper — which has already called his sister Joanne a ‘fat pig’ and his children ‘dwarves’ — gave a whole page to the attack in its Cup section.
   Under the banner headline ‘David Brecham’, an anonymous sports writer sniped: ‘Was he thinking about his wife’s credit card bill?
   But, as The Sun reported, Beckham was simply suffering from dehydration after his free kick sent England into the quarter finals.
   Bild outlined four ludicrous theories: ‘Did the play of his team make him sick? Perhaps because Beckham is leader of the 11 players, he couldn’t go through the same again.
   ‘The result: a bad taste despite the victory, like in the previous round.
   ‘Or can this metrosexual be pregnant? Expectant mothers suffer nausea. Biologically, Beckham is not a woman, but is nevertheless a metrosexual.
   ‘Perhaps Mrs Beckham is pregnant again and dad suffers with her?
   ‘Did he think of his wife’s credit card bill? Her average outfit costs at least 2000 euros.
   ‘Or did he drink too much English beer? Thin, bad beer without a head instead of delicious German beer.’
   Bild’s earlier Beckham rant was by sports columnist Tobias Holtkamp, but no one owned up to the latest attack.
    An England source said: ‘This is just another pathetic attempt to upset David as he prepares for our next game.
   ‘The last time he described the people responsible as sad and this situation is the same.
   ‘It won’t knock him off course or deflect his determination to beat Portugal. He’ll let his football do the talking.’
   Becks was given a clean bill of health to resume full training today for Saturday’s crunch clash with Portugal in Gelsenkirchen.

France say the way Spanish fans whistled during the playing of their national anthem the Marseillaise before Tuesday’s last 16 game only served to give them added incentive to win the match
   ‘When they whistled at our national anthem they didn’t understand that it would only make us even more motivated,’ said Juventus defender Lilian Thuram.
   Striker Thierry Henry described the rival supporters’ behaviour as shameful.
   ‘I’ve never seen that before in the World Cup. It’s shameful that their supporters reacted like that during the Marseillaise.
   ‘Our fans didn’t behave the same way when their anthem was played.’
   Goals from Frank Ribery, Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane earned France an emphatic 3-1 win and a date with Brazil in the quarter-finals in Frankfurt on Saturday.

Germany’s painted man
   Germany’s all-action midfielder Torsten Frings says he is planning on adding to his already extensive collection of tattoos.
   The sprawling collection of squiggles snaking down his right bicep - including the Chinese star sign of his wife and two daughters - and a smaller tattoo on his left arm are set to be adorned by further designs done by an old friend who has a parlour in the Netherlands, he told Bild newspaper.
   Frings, 29, also commented on his day-off outfit, which included an MP3 player engraved with his nickname (‘Sucker’) which was given to him by Werder Bremen teammate Patrick Owomoyela as well as a 10,000-euro watch from jeweller to the stars Jacob and Co.
   ‘I don’t really go for expensive things,’ Frings said, slightly unconvincingly.
   
   It takes you to tango, Diego
   A German teacher of tango is hoping the newly svelte Diego Maradona, hero of the wildly popular Argentine television dance show ‘Tens’ Night,’ to come and hone his steps at her Berlin workshop.
   ‘A number of tango moves were borrowed from football,’ Ines Moussavi told the Berliner Kurier daily, inviting Maradona to drop by her Far Out venue on Berlin’s Lehniner Square.
   
   Just like old times
   French defender Lilian Thuram said it was just like old times as France knocked out Spain in a match which brought back memories of his country’s run to glory on home soil in 1998.
   ‘It’s difficult to describe the sensations I felt. When (Zinedine) Zidane got the third goal it was like a feeling of liberation. I felt even more emotion than during the competition in France.’
   Thuram famously didn’t show much emotion eight years ago, looking simply incredulous and placing a hand to his chin after scoring twice in the 1998 semi-final against Croatia - his only goals for the national side.
   Spanish destiny is to lose
   Spain are destined to lose - it’s part of the whole business of being Spanish, according to AS sports daily.
   ‘We just must believe that there is something in us which prevents us overcoming at the crucial moment.
   ‘Maybe there’s something deep within us,’ said AS in a commentary which said the defeat by the French in the last 16 could be added to a long list of losses including ‘Cuba, Trafalgar ...’ — AFP