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

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

Bangladesh spurned a promising start to be dismissed for 234 runs in the first innings of the second Test against Sri Lanka that began at the Bogra Shaheed Chandu Stadium on Wednesday.
   However, they hit back reducing the visitors to 25-2 by stumps on the first day with Syed Rasel removing opener Michael Vandort for a duck and Shahadat Hossain seeing off night watchman Malinga Bandara. Upul Tharanga was batting on 12 with Thilan Samaraweera 7 not out.
   Earlier, Muttiah Muralitharan ruled the day with 5-79, which took his world record tally of five-wicket hauls to 50. It also took him closer to another great milestone -- 600 wickets. The Sri Lankan spin wizard needs two more to join Australia’s Shane Warne who currently has 659.
   Muralitharan began his quest for the magical 600 by removing openers Javed Omar and Nafees Iqbal both lbw before lunch after the pair had added 52 runs, which is incidentally Bangladesh's highest partnership against the islanders in 13 innings.
   Bangladesh, who went for lunch on 94-2, then lost Shahriar Nafees shortly afterwards before skipper Habibul Bashar and Mohammad Ashraful made a desperate attempt to put the team back on track.
   Bashar reached his 22nd Test half-century flicking Malinga Bandara towards square-leg. But the Sri Lankan leg-spinner hit back with his next ball dislodging the bails of Mohammad Ashraful, who made only 24. It also ended their 51-run stand for the fourth wicket.
   His downfall brought local boy Mushfiqur Rahim to the crease but the youngster only lasted 18 balls before Muralitharan had him leg before for two. The same bowler ended the defiance of Bashar on 69 when he was caught by Tharanga at silly mid-off but TV replays showed the ball might have touched his pad. The Bangladesh skipper played 120 balls but more importantly stayed 172 minutes at the crease to hit seven boundaries.
   After out-of-form Khaled Mashud departed on 12 nicking a catch behind the stumps. Mohammad Rafique gave Bangladesh's innings some respectability with a gritty 32. But Muralitharan had again a role in dismissing the left-hander as he took a catch off Dilhara Fernando.

India captain Rahul Dravid has urged his bowlers to adapt quickly if the hosts are to have any chance of beating England in the second Test starting in Mohali today.
   The India attack struggled in the drawn first Test in Nagpur, allowing the injury-depleted tourists to dominate for most of the match.
   ‘We should be able to learn and adapt and be able to take 20 wickets,’ he told reporters on Wednesday. ‘We can’t always rely on conditions.
   ‘We’ve played on some wickets which have been pretty flat and slow and low, which was also a factor.’
   India have failed to dismiss the opposition twice in the last four Tests, including the three-match series in Pakistan they lost 1-0.
   Spin duo Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh are also a concern after taking just four wickets in Nagpur, despite the absence of injured England captain Michael Vaughan and opener Marcus Trescothick.
   Dravid said India’s young seam attack including rookies Rudra Pratap Singh, Shantakumaran Sreesanth and uncapped Munaf Patel should also adapt quickly.
   ‘At the end of the day you got to play in whatever conditions you are given,’ he said. ‘No point making excuses.’
   The 22-year-old Patel could make his India debut on Thursday after capturing 10 wickets to help defeat England in a three-day tour game last month. He could replace Sreesanth, who took four first innings wickets on debut in Nagpur before going down with the flu.
   Mohammad Kaif appears set to make way for in-form Yuvraj Singh, back after missing the opening Test due to a hamstring injury.

Spanish outfit Valencia are reported to be planning a summer move for Manchester United’s Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo.
   Valencia are ready to offer 17 million pounds (29.5 million dollars) when the transfer window reopens, the Daily Mirror reported Wednesday.
   ‘I want Valencia to do big things in the Champions League and Cristiano would fit perfectly with these plans. We will now speak with Manchester United,’ club president Juan Soler is quoted as saying in the newspaper.
   The 21-year-old Ronaldo has produced some of his best form for United in recent weeks and signed an extension to his contract at Old Trafford late last year which will take him up until 2010.
   Meanwhile, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is reported to be interested in signing Argentine playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme for next season. Ferguson is considering a 10 million pound ($17.4m) bid for the Villarreal star but will first speak to the Spanish side’s former United striker Diego Forlan to see whether he thinks the Argentine is cut out for English football.

The visiting Japan handball team played out an exciting 18-18 draw with the Bangladesh Handball Federation team at the outer stadium handball court on Wednesday.
   The Handball Federation team led the first half 9-7, organised under the EXIM Bank Handball Development Programme.
   Earlier, Viqarunnisa Noon School and College beat Sunnydale School 9-4 in the girls’ meet while BAF Shaheen School and College defeated Ansar and VDP High School 10-5 in the boys’ U-10 competition. The director of Japan International Co-operation Agency, Akio Arai, later distributed prizes as the chief guest.

The eighth round of the Ispahani Mizapore Tea National Cricket League starts today with the one-dayers at three different venues across the country.
   Defending champions and table-toppers Rajshahi will retain their crown if they beat Sylhet on their home ground. Rajshahi have maximum 14 points from seven matches while their nearest rivals Dhaka are on eight points. The other four teams are all on six points.
   Chittagong play Dhaka at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium while Barisal host Khulna at the Barisal Divisional Stadium.

Pakistan have appointed former paceman Waqar Younis as their bowling coach after losing a home one-day series against arch-rivals India, officials said Wednesday.
   ‘We have appointed Waqar as bowling coach for a period of one year and hope that he helps the bowlers to lift their performances,’ board chairman Shaharyar Khan told reporters. ‘It’s a great honour to be bowling coach of your country’s team and I see it as a great responsibility,’ Waqar told AFP.
   ‘It’s also a great honour to work with a reputed coach like Bob Woolmer and I will do my best to transfer my knowledge of the game to youngsters.’ Waqar said his first task would be to improve fitness.
   ‘What I have noticed is that our bowlers lacked fitness which reduced their effectiveness in recent series, so I will sit down with the physiotherapist and trainer to solve this problem.’
   ‘We have a number of talented fast bowlers but some of them like Mohammad Sami have not performed up to their potential and I will help them turn their potential into performances.’ Pakistan are also looking for a foreign fielding coach, who may be appointed shortly, officials said.
   Waqar refused a short-term contract after he was offered the responsibility for one series last year.

Brian Lara has scoffed at suggestions the once-mighty West Indies will be no match for New Zealand in their Test series starting today.
   New Zealand are overwhelming favourites to capture the three-match series but Lara, riled by comments in the local media dismissing his side, warned the Kiwis against underestimating the visitors.
   ‘I just thought it was a bit disrespectful for a country that has a greater cricketing history than their hosts,’ he told reporters in New Zealand.
   ‘We’re so rich in our legacy and I felt a bit disrespected.
   ‘If you put the West Indies up against New Zealand and you scrolled down the list, you’d see a country that had a greater cricketing history than yours.’
   New Zealand thrashed the West Indies 4-1 in their five one-dayers but both teams were playing down the significance of that series.
   Former skipper Lara was missing from the West Indian team and the New Zealanders have not played a Test in seven months.
   ‘There have been a lot of one-dayers ... so to play the purer form of the game is pretty exciting,’ New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said.
   ‘There may be a little bit of rustiness, but I expect the guys to be excited and to be looking forward to the challenge.’
   The West Indies have been steadily sliding down the pecking order since they dominated world cricket in the 1980s and remain in a prolonged slump, having lost 19 of their past 22 one-day internationals and 12 of their most recent 15 Tests.

How do I get a ticket for the World Cup? That is the question football fanatics are asking ahead of this summer’s finals in Germany. The answer will not be one they want to hear.
   The German organisers made 3.07 million tickets available to the general public but demand has far outstripped supply with tickets oversubscribed by a ratio of 20 to one.
   The first 12 hours of sales saw one million tickets ordered with 90 percent of orders coming from Europe.
   The Organising Committee confirmed that 2.7 million tickets had already been snapped up 100 days before the finals, running from June 9 until July 9, ensuring a frantic scramble for the remaining 370,000 tickets.
   Germany’s central European location and its numerous borders make it easily accessible and thousands of ticketless fans will travel to Germany in the hope of securing a late ticket through a friend, contact or via ‘improper’ channels.
   If that fails then soaking up the atmosphere in a German pub fitted out with a widescreen television is the logical alternative.
   Black market tickets have surfaced on online auction site ebay and ticket touts are sure to be hovering around the 12 World Cup stadia come June.
   Organisers have urged fans to go through the proper channels with vice-president of the Organising Committee, Horst R. Schmidt, saying fans risk being left out of pocket if they gamble on the black market.
   ‘They should realise that they could not only lose a great deal of money, but also might find themselves unable to enter the ground on match day due to the personalised nature of the tickets,’ Schmidt warning.
   The official World Cup website www.FIFAworldcup.com and the 2006 FIFA World Cup Ticketing Center in Frankfurt are the two proper channels.
   Deep pockets are required with group matches ranging from 35 to 100 euros (42-120 dollars) while a ticket for the Berlin final costs between 120 and 600 euros (144-720 dollars).
   The prices of tickets on the black market are sure to be hiked up significantly and aside from the agony of parting with hundreds of euros a high-tech system could see black-market buyers turned away at the turnstiles.
   FIFA have confirmed that no-one is permitted to re-sell or hand over a match ticket without the approval of organisers.
   All tickets for the 64 World Cup matches have an embedded electronic chip to identify the ticket holder and counter illegal trading.
   ‘The tickets cannot be forged,’ promised Wolfgang Niersbach, vice-president of the Organising Committee.
   The tickets are printed in English with only the public transportation details in German.
   The name of the football fan who purchased the ticket is also displayed.
   Three of the five tickets sales periods have already been completed and the ongoing penultimate sales stage ends on April 15.
   The final sales period runs from May 1 to July 9.
   Providing the fans have applied in time, they enter an electronic lottery that determines the lucky recipients.
   However, three of the five sales periods, including the final two, are being done on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and the confusing system has come under fire from fans.

Werder Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese was inconsolable after his late blunder on Tuesday enabled Juventus to knock the German side out of the Champions League.
   ‘It was horrible,’ Wiese told his club’s website. ‘I wanted to bury myself in the ground. That’s by far the worst sporting moment I’ve ever experienced.’ Wiese had produced a string of fine saves until he fumbled a harmless cross with two minutes to go, allowing Brazilian Emerson the easiest of chances to hand Juve a 2-1 win and put them through to the quarter-finals on away goals.
   ‘I was not excited at all, Wiese said. ‘I was treating it like any other match and it was going really well.
   ‘I had the feeling I could save everything. It was one of my best games and then that happened.
   ‘That’s the kind of mistake you make once in your life.’
   Wiese was comforted by his team mates after the match and all offered support.
   ‘He kept us in contention for so long,’ said Werder captain Frank Baumann. ‘He had a world class game until that.’ Werder were hoping to reach the last eight of the Champions League for the first time after beating Juventus 3-2 in the first leg.
   ‘Last year we were clearly beaten twice by Lyon and this year we had two tight matches against Juventus,’ he said. ‘This is bitter for Tim and bitter for everybody but it doesn’t change the fact that we are definitely improving.’
   Werder, who lie second eight points behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga standings, could be back in the Champions League next season but will need time to get over what happened on Tuesday.
   ‘The players will ask themselves over and over again what they should have done differently,’ said Werder sports director Klaus Allofs.
   ‘Football can be so unfair.’

Bobby Charlton has blamed the influence of overseas players for the play-acting culture in the Premiership.
   Diving rows have flared up again following high-profile acts of simulation from Chelsea stars Arjen Robben and Didier Drogba among others.
   And former Manchester United and England hero Charlton points to the growing number of foreign players in the game as the root cause of unsporting behaviour.
   Sir Bobby said, ‘The British always used to be called the gentlemen of sport.
   ‘They would play the game correctly, with a stiff upper lip – but we did it right. And we seem to have drifted into some of the bad habits others have brought with them.
   ‘We didn’t used to have any of this in our country until players from abroad came in.’
   Refs’ boss Keith Hackett wants the game’s rulers to punish all divers and reckons video evidence could nail the main culprits and stamp out play-acting.
   Ex-whistler Hackett said, ‘I look at videos after matches and I can look at all sorts of camera angles and see that a player has committed an offence. ‘Retrospective punishment would be a good way of policing the game.’
   Hackett, chief of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, fears diving triggers unnecessary rows between rival bosses.
   He added, ‘The biggest people who can help are managers because they set the tone.
   ‘Now we’re beginning to get some heat in it. The opponent is getting offended by it and that is causing confrontation.’

United star Wayne Rooney is already carrying the nation’s hopes on the football pitch. Now he is being put forward as the man to save England’s World Cup squad from another embarrassing flop in the music charts.
   It is 16 years since England last reached Number One with an official World Cup anthem, when Manchester music legends New Order wrote World In Motion for Italia 90. Back then, it was Liverpool striker John Barnes who provided the players’ contribution with: ‘Catch me if you can, ‘cos I’m the England man.’
   Ironically, the official song could face its stiffest opposition from Barnes, who has been approached to provide a rap for an unofficial fans’ anthem.
   New Order bassist Peter Hook, who co-wrote the ‘old’ song, believes the Football Association should now turn to Rooney for the anthem to top the charts for this summer’s tournament in Germany.
   He told the MEN: ‘I’d go for the Arctic Monkeys this year, possibly with a rap by Wayne Rooney.
   ‘Any anthem needs to be loud and punky, and a little bit cheeky, which they could pull off.’
   England’s Joe Cole has also tipped the Arctic Monkeys as the band who could lend credibility to the official World Cup anthem.
   The FA says the final decision on who will represent England in the charts will be made in the next few weeks.
   New Order’s World In Motion reached Number One in June 1990 and England had their most successful tournament since 1966 by reaching the semi-finals.
   England failed to qualify for the 1994 tournament and in 1998 the official song How Does It Feel by England United only reached number nine in the charts.
   The official England anthem for 2002, We’re On The Ball by Ant & Dec, also failed to top the charts, peaking at number 3.
   Nigel Martin Smith, who discovered Take That, said the FA should go for a mainstream artist.
   He said: ‘I think it needs to be someone like Oasis or Robbie Williams, someone who isn’t cheesy and who really cares about football.’

England captain David Beckham revealed Wednesday that he is not interested in going down the road of football management when his playing career is over.
   ‘It’s never interested me. I wouldn’t like to be a manager,’ said the former Manchester United midfielder. ‘I love being a footballer - that’s my passion. Being a manager would not be a passion for me.’
   Beckham told Sky Sports News he plans to invest time in his youth academy project, which has bases in London and Los Angeles.
   ‘After football I’ve got my academies which I’ve just set up and feel strongly about,’ Beckham explained.
   ‘It’s a very personal thing for me and I’m also a UNICEF ambassador, so that is going to be a big part of my life when I finish playing, and spending time with the kids and (wife) Victoria.’

Test cricket’s greatest wicket-taker Shane Warne has admitted his off-field antics with a series of women cost him not only his marriage but also a chance to captain Australia.
   In a candid interview with The Bulletin magazine, the spin wizard describes himself variously as ‘an idiot’ and ‘a dickhead’ for his well-publicised extra-marital sexual escapades, but said there were fewer than most people imagined.
   ‘I’ve had a few one-night or two-night stands or whatever you want to call it ...I’ve never fallen in love with anyone,’ he said.
   ‘I think everyone out there thinks that there’s been hundreds and thousands of women. That is not actually the case.
   ‘Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to make excuses – it’s very hard being on the road. It’s very lonely.
   ‘And when you’re lonely and you’re away for six months, things sometimes just happen and then you regret it afterwards and you think, “You idiot”.’
   Warne said he had paid heavily for his behaviour off the field.
   ‘At the end of the day, it’s cost me probably a chance to captain Australia ... my marriage is breaking down, we’re getting a divorce.
   ‘It’s cost me all that and it’s cost me sponsorship. It’s cost me lots of stuff.’
   But, he said, he tried not to worry too much about it, adding, ‘A lot of people don’t understand. I don’t understand. Maybe I need to see people about it. Maybe, I don’t know.’
   Warne continues to live in the same house as his wife Simone – who is reportedly seeking a multi-million dollar divorce settlement – and their three children.
   He said he and Simone were ‘still best friends ... like brother and sister’.
   Warne, who will take to the field again in the Test series against South Africa starting in Cape Town on March 16, said that despite all his losses he still had cricket.
   ‘So, OK, where am I at? I’ve lost that love of my life. What else have I got in my life that I love? My cricket. So I’m not going to lose both. I’ve got to make this a winner.’
   Warne said he remained ‘pretty strong mentally’, adding, ‘The one thing I’m proud of in my life is no matter what has happened, I’ve still been able to front up, play my cricket and still do a pretty good job.’
   The spin king, who has sometimes struggled with his weight, said that in preparation for the Test series he had cut out many of his favourite foods – pizza, bread, chips and beer – and had been excercising regularly.
   Warne, the leading all-time wicket taker in Test cricket, turns 37 this year but said he had set no date for quitting Test cricket.
   ‘I think I’ll just wake and say, “That’s it”. I won’t be one of those people that’ll plan it. It’ll just happen.’

Juventus 2 Werder Bremen 1
   An awful mistake by Werder Bremen keeper Tim Wiese in the 88th minute gifted Juventus a dramatic 2-1 victory here Tuesday and a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
   Bremen were hanging on for the 1-1 draw which would have been enough for them to reach the last eight of the competition.
   But with the seconds ticking away, Wiese, who had been outstanding for the Germans with a series of superb saves, spilled a straightforward catch to give Emerson the easiest of tap-ins.
   Wiese’s howler left the aggregate score at 4-4 and Juve, the Italian league leaders, advanced on the away goals rule.
   French midfielder Johan Micoud struck for Werder in the 13th minute with a delicate chip, before David Trezeguet levelled the score midway through the second half with a typically clinical finish.
   Emerson, nicknamed ‘Puma’ because of his tireless running in midfield, admitted Juve defender Fabio Cannavaro had to take most of the credit for the winning goal as it was he who let the Brazil international know that the ball had come loose.
   ‘Fabio shouted at me, ‘Puma, Puma’ and I saw the ball near me and smashed it in,’ he said.
   Emerson scoffed at suggestions that Juve were fortunate.
   ‘Werder were luckier than us as we had about 10 goalscoring chances, and their keeper performed miracles,’ he said.
   ‘We showed once again what great character we have and that we never give up.’
   Juve coach Fabio Capello was able to recall strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Trezeguet, both absent from Saturday’s 1-0 league win at Sampdoria due to injury.
   The return of the club’s first-choice attacking partnership, with 32 goals bewteen them in all competitions this season, forced Alessandro Del Piero, Juve’s all-time top scorer, onto the substitutes’ bench.
   The crowd was swelled by an extra 6,000 with Juve granting free admission to volunteers at the Winter Olympics.
   Another keen spectator was Italy coach Marcello Lippi, keeping a watchful eye on his World Cup hopefuls.
   Juve set the early pace with Pavel Nedved’s dangerous cross cut out by a Frank Fahrenhorst’s outstretched boot and Cannavaro heading the resulting corner over the bar.
   But the home side’s early swagger quickly diminished.
   Juve’s defence tried to play the offside trap when Christian Schulz chipped into the penalty area, but Micoud timed his run to perfection and clipped the ball right-footed past the advancing Gianluigi Buffon.
   A mistake by Schulz almost brought Juve back on level terms in the 23rd minute when he almost headed into his own net when trying to cushion a header back to Wiese.
   Fortunately for Schulz, the ball rolled wide and from the corner Wiese pulled off a miraculous reflex save to keep out Ibrahimovic’s close-range volley.
   Ivan Klasnic went close to extending Werder’s lead two miutes before the break, but Buffon was equal to his rasping drive.
   Wiese produced a jaw-dropping double save to deny Nedved and then Emerson as Juve ended the half with a flourish.
   Capello brought on Alessandro Del Piero for Ibrahimovic and Adrian Mutu for Mauro Camoranesi and the switch added impetus to a previously sterile attack.
   Juve kept plugging away and they equalised in the 65th minute.
   A robust run by Nedved caught Werder napping and as the ball started to run a little too far ahead of the Czech midfielder, Trezeguet came steaming in to fire home.
   Wiese palmed away a Mutu free-kick and an Emerson piledriver, but his luck cruelly deserted him two minutes from time with an error that is likely to haunt him for the rest of his career.

Just as he had promised he would, Jose Mourinho strode out on to the pitch 40 minutes before kick-off and glowered at the stark majesty of a half-empty Nou Camp.
   The fans already inside hooted and jeered at him but Mourinho stood a few feet inside the touchline, staring fixedly at his goalkeepers as they warmed up.
   At one point, he lifted his right foot and gazed down at the sole of his shoe as if he thought he might have trodden in something nasty.
   His plan, he had said, was to draw the sting of the Barcelona crowd, a move that provoked derision in the Catalan press.
   Sport, the newspaper that had called him a ‘monster’ the day before, printed a cartoon on its back page on Tuesday depicting Mourinho manacled to the cross.
   The Chelsea manager was dressed in leather bondage gear and he was talking to the Nou Camp crowd.
   ‘Whistle at me, yell at me, insult me,’ he was saying, ‘yes, yes, yes, do it please.’
   His plan didn’t really work. Despite the odd banner which derided Mourinho’s role as a translator when he worked at the Nou Camp for Sir Bobby Robson, the hostility towards him was muted.
   But then the crowd seemed strangely subdued for most of the evening as if they were nervous about holding on to what they had.
   After a few minutes of Mourinho’s pre-match posturing, the Barcelona fans seemed to forget he was standing there and he walked back to the tunnel unnoticed. Next, Mourinho played his favourite new trick.
   Having witnessed the spectacular effect it had on Bryan Robson when Chelsea kept West Brom waiting at half-time on Saturday, Mourinho thought it was worth trying on Frank Rijkaard.
   So when Barcelona arrived at the end of the tunnel last night, there was no sign of Chelsea. After Ronaldinho and the rest had waited for a few minutes, referee Markus Merk went back up to the Chelsea dressing room to drag them out.
   Eventually, Mourinho came strolling along the line of Barca players, slapping each one of them on the back as he passed them. He made straight for the dug-out and stood inside, half hidden in its darkness like a gunslinger lurking in the shadows.
   But Rijkaard and his players seemed unconcerned by the delay, which meant that the game kicked off more than three minutes late. After a compelling trilogy of matches in the last two seasons, they went into last night’s match well-versed in his strategies and ruses. If anything, Barcelona were inspired by the prospect of facing down Mourinho and played some champagne football in the early stages of the first half and Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi began to find their groove.
   Messi, Chelsea’s tormentor at Stamford Bridge, was in the same elusive form and he and Ronaldinho threatened several times to carve open Chelsea. They bamboozled with a series of bewitching flicks and tricks. They never threatened Chelsea’s goal but they seemed to be toying with them.
   When Messi went off with a hamstring injury after 23 minutes, his absence hurt Barcelona more than any of Mourinho’s antics. Barcelona lost their fluency for a while and Chelsea, arranged by Mourinho in an unfamiliar 4-4-2 formation, began to pose the home defence a few questions. When that glimmer of a threat had disappeared early in the second half, Mourinho acted decisively.
   He dragged off Damien Duff and Didier Drogba and brought on Eidur Gudjohnsen and Hernan Crespo. It was so nearly a master stroke. Crespo had only been on for a couple of minutes when he escaped his marker and met a Cole cross at the near post – but he could only clip the ball wide.
   And so gradually, the match began to peter out and Chelsea’s hopes of pulling off a famous result slowly died. This time there were no controversies, no red cards, no sightings of Rijkaard in the referee’s room, no men in woolly hats, no excuses.
   It was just a match between two of the best teams in Europe. Chelsea gave it everything but it wasn’t quite enough. There was no shame in that. No shame in admitting the best team won.
   No shame. Just dignity in defeat and the new sensation of seeing Mourinho in a state of grace.

Villarreal 1 Rangers 1
   Glasgow Rangers saw their Champions League dream come to a heartbreaking end on Tuesday when they were knocked out by Villarreal despite drawing their last 16, second leg tie 1-1.
   The result meant that the Spaniards, who also put out Manchester United and Everton earlier in the tournament, go through to the quarter-finals in their debut season in the competition on away goals after the first leg ended 2-2 in Glasgow.
   For Rangers, it meant the end of their hopes of winning any silverware this season and meant Alex McLeish’s reign as manager will end on a low note.
   The night had started well for Rangers in the intimidating atmosphere of the El Madrigal with Peter Lovenkrands giving his team a 12th minute lead before Juan Roman Riquelme set up Rodolfo Arruabarrena to snatch the equaliser early in the second half.
   The Scottish side, bidding to win a European tie for only the second time on Spanish soil, were given a helping hand in their opener. Thomas Buffel, recalled to the starting line-up by McLeish, played a harmless looking ball into the area.
   But under pressure from Barry Ferguson, Villarreal goalkeeper Sebastien Viera spilled the ball into the path of Lovenkrands.
   The 26-year-old Danish striker coolly accepted the chance to score from close range. It was Lovenkrands’s fourth goal of the campaign as Rangers nudged ahead 3-2 on aggregate.
   The Spaniards were struggling to break down a well-organised Rangers defence but former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan had his side’s best chance to hit back.
   Dangerman Riquelme was the inspiration with his ball releasing Forlan.
   His cross was misjudged by Guillermo Franco which allowed teammate Arruabarrena to score from close in to level the score on the night but put the Spaniards in front on away goals.
   Adding to Rangers’ problems were reports that a section of their fans, who had gathered outside the ground without tickets, had stoned the Villarreal team bus on its way into the stadium.

German courts want to speed up the legal process to mete out swift punishments to suspected hooligans at this summer’s World Cup, German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries declared Wednesday.
   ‘If there is clear evidence, the perpetrators should face trial within 24 hours,’ Zypries said in Die Welt newspaper.
   ‘We have undertaken judicial measures to ensure the necessary punishments are handed out.’
   German organisers have an extensive database on known hooligans and have vowed to prevent them from entering the country and causing trouble at the finals.
   The host nation have also enlisted the help of outside police help with the British embassy in Germany confirming that 40 British police would accompany England fans to this year’s World Cup finals.
   Hooliganism left its mark on the France 1998 World Cup - the last tournament held in Europe - with English fans brawling and a group of German hooligans leaving a French policeman with permanent brain damage.

German organisers are considering extending the deadline for naming World Cup squads after several top coaches pleaded for more time.
   As it stands the 32 World Cup coaches must name their 23-man squads by May 15 but some managers want the deadline extended by a fortnight.
   ‘I will definitely name my final squad on May 15 but I support the idea of moving the deadline to the end of May or even the beginning of June,’ said Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira.
   England coach Sven Goran Eriksson and Germany boss Jurgen Klinsmann are two other top managers to back the idea.
   Coaches claim an extended deadline would help them weigh up late injuries to players and the German Organising Committee, fronted by UEFA president Lennart Johansson, will meet in Zurich on March 15 to make a decision.

India’s Sania Mirza is hoping to renew her doubles partnership with Israel’s Shahar Peer despite protests from some Muslim and Jewish groups.
   Mirza, whose poor recent form has seen her slip from a career-high ranking of 31 at the end of 2005 to 45th, said she would have played with Peer at this week’s Pacific Life Open, but the Israeli player had already booked a partner.
   ‘You shouldn’t mix up sports with anything else,’ the 19-year-old told Reuters at the March 8-19 tournament in Indian Wells.
   ‘If I had to follow the stereotype of what a woman athlete should be in India, then I wouldn’t be playing tennis because there aren’t many girls who pick up rackets when they are six. If you believe it’s right, if your loved ones believe it’s right, then it’s right.’
   Mirza and Peer united for the first time when they reached the quarter-finals of the event in Bangkok last October, but their partnership was met with anger by some religious groups.
   ‘We are playing sports,’ Peer said at the time in Thailand. ‘We don’t think about politics. It’s a good idea to bring (cultures) together, but we will play together because we want to and will have good results.’
   Mirza enjoyed a breakout season in 2005, capturing her first WTA title in Hyderabad and reaching the fourth round of the U.S. Open before succumbing to Russia’s Maria Sharapova.
   But her results in 2006 have been poor. She has won just three singles matches in five events since the turn of the year.
   ‘You should never be satisfied. People come up with that I’m the first Indian woman to accomplish blah, blah, blah, and that’s the hardest part for me,’ said the 28th seed for Indian Wells.
   ‘I would like to believe I’m tough enough to cope with all this pressure, but everyone has their moments,’ she said. ‘We’re not machines, we’re human. We have our breakdowns and feel lonely.
   ‘I know the pressure is getting harder by the day,’ she said. ‘People in India get very emotional about their heroes, but I’m going to try to block out as much as I can.’
   Under the tutelage of Roger Federer’s coach Tony Roche, Mirza has changed her service action and believes she’s making progress.
   ‘The second year is tougher,’ she said. ‘People know your weaknesses more. That’s why I’m changing my serve now because people were taking advantage of it. It couldn’t get worse, so it had to get better.’

Organisers of the second cricket Test between India and England say they will lodge a protest against the behaviour of the English team management after the visiting team refused to attend the official pre-Test media conference Wednesday.
   GS Walia, the Indian cricket board’s media representative, said the England team refused to send its coach or captain for the traditional official media conference on the eve of the Test at the game’s venue.
   ‘We’ve brought this instance to the notice of the Indian cricket board, to be taken up with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB),’ Walia told reporters.
   The England team instead held a media conference in the team hotel, which Walia said could ‘not be considered the official press meeting.’
   ‘We’ve no problem with the touring team holding any number of conferences at venues of their own choice, but they must turn up at the Test venue for the official press meeting,’ he said.
   ‘This was strange behaviour and I personally tried to explain the situation to the England team’s media manager, but to no avail.’
   Inderjit Singh Bindra, head of the Mohali-based Punjab Cricket Association, said it was for the Indian cricket board to lodge a protest with ECB.
   Bindra is a former president of the Indian cricket board.
   ‘On our part, we’ll bring this to the notice of the ECB’s chief executive David Collier, who’ll be in Mohali’ for the start of the second Test match today.

People who criticise Ronaldo Nazario, Real Madrid’s Brazilian-born forward, lack respect for one of football’s great names, Zico, a former Brazilian soccer star, who now manages the Japan national team, told reporters on Tuesday.
   ‘I am waiting to greet him with open arms in Japan,’ Zico told a press conference in Rio, during his last stop before heading to Germany for the 2006 World Cup competition. ‘Those criticisms are a lack of respect for one of football’s great names. Every athlete experiences problems, but he has already shown he can come back. I would not want to have to deal with his current medical conditions,’ Zico said.
   Zico, the former star player for Flamengo, said he had been surprised by remarks made by French soccer player Michel Platini, who called Ronaldo old and fat, and added that he could not hold candle to Theirry Henry, a Frenchman who plays for English soccer team Arsenal.
   ‘Henry is a good player, but he is not better than Ronaldo,’ Zico said. ‘When he has won what Ronaldo has already won, then I might think about changing my ideas.’
   Zico said that he thinks the only way Ronaldo can answer his critics is with his performance on the football field, and said he was sad that he would have to face him in the World Cup just when he is having to prove his skills. Japan are in the same World Cup group as Brazil.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday awarded former Argentine tennis star Gabriela Sabatini its 2006 ‘women in sport’ prize for her work to promote tennis in Argentina.
   Since she retired in 1996, Sabatini has quietly financed a programme for young players, women’s tennis tournaments and free tennis clinics for young children out of her own pocket, the IOC said.
   Sabatini, who was ranked world number three, said she was ‘giving back to sport something of the many things that sport gave to me’.
   Coinciding with International Women’s Day, regional awards were also presented to five other figures for their role in encouraging and strengthening the participation of women in sports.
   They include gymnastics chief Albertine Barbosa Andrade, the only woman head of a sports
   federation in Senegal, Canadian 1984 Olympic 400 metre relay silver medallist Charmaine Crooks, ‘Ping Pong Queen’ Elisa Lee,
   now a leading sports official in South Korea, French volleyball official Dominique Petit and Fiji’s badminton secretary Lorraine Mar.
   The trophy has been awarded annually since 2000 by the IOC’s women’s commission and its chair, Anita DeFrantz.

Tearaway pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who had a successful knee surgery recently, is hopeful that will be fit to play for the Pakistan tour of England in June.
   Shoaib recently underwent a successful surgery by noted knee and sports injuries specialist Dr David Young in Melbourne to remove floating pieces of cartilage and drain excess fluid from the knees.
   He said he will return home on Friday from Australia after doctors completed a successful surgery on his injured knees.
   ‘I have started slowly walking again and I shall return home by Friday. I am feeling comfortable after the operations which the doctors say have been good for me but they have asked me to follow a strict exercise regimen in my rehabilitation process,’ Shoaib was quoted as saying from Melbourne by The News on Wednesday.
   ‘It is good that my problem has been diagnosed so early as now I have considerable time to recover for the England tour in late June,’ the fast bowler, who had taken 165 Test and 199 ODI wickets, added.

The Bangladesh women football team will play their second and last qualifying round match of the AFC Under-19 Cup against hosts India at the Dr Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi today.
   In their first match on Tuesday, they suffered a 0-6 thrashing against Kyrgyzstan.