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Another tournament, another disappointment? Spain make their eighth straight appearance in the World Cup with hopes of success understandably low.
   A soccer giant at club level, the national team has lifted only one major trophy – the 1964 European Championship.
   Spain have played in 11 tournaments overall, but have only won 19 out of 45 games. Their best finish was the fourth place they achieved in 1950.
   The latest coach charged with helping Spain to live up to its potential is 67-year-old Luis Aragones, who is unbeaten in 19 matches since replacing Inaki Saez after the team’s flop at Euro 2004.
   Aragones says he believes Spain can reach the last four, although they could face five-time champions Brazil in the quarterfinals – the team’s stumbling block in two of the last three tournaments.
   ‘It’s my professional ambition and I try to transmit to the players that we have to achieve it, that we’re going to achieve it, that this time the myth will be ended and that we’re going to get past the quarterfinals,’ Aragones said recently.
   The coach, who was fined by the Spanish soccer federation in 2005 for using a racist remark about France striker Thierry Henry, said the team has to be able to survive uncomfortable moments. Every World Cup-winning team has struggled on its way to the title, he said.
   ‘To win, you have to know how to suffer,’ Aragones said.
   Spain look to face a mild introduction to the tournament this time.
   The Spanish team face Ukraine in Group H in Leipzig on June 14, Tunisia in Stuttgart on June 19 and Saudi Arabia in Kaiserslautern four days later.
   ‘It’s a good group and on paper Spain and Ukraine are favourites, although you have to demonstrate it on the field. In general, I’m satisfied,’ Aragones said.
   Spain hope to benefit from the greater experience of a group of players who have moved to England in the last two seasons – goalkeeper Pepe Reina, defender Asier Del Horno, forwards Luis Garcia and Fernando Morientes, and midfielders Xabi Alonso and Cesc Fabregas.
   The 19-year-old Fabregas has forced himself into Aragones’ reckoning with his impressive displays in Arsenal’s run to the Champions League final.
   A debutant in Spain’s 3-2 win over Ivory Coast in a friendly in March, the midfielder looks set for inclusion in the 23-man squad for the finals, particularly if FC Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez doesn’t regain top form following a serious knee injury earlier in the season.
   ‘I think I’m capable of doing whatever I’m asked to do. It takes mental strength but for the moment things are going well for me,’ Fabregas said.
   Atletico Madrid’s Fernando Torres, who has scored nine goals in 27 international appearances, is expected to lead Spain’s attack.
   Shrouded in doubts about his form, captain and the national team’s all-time leading scorer Raul Gonzalez may be less involved this time, while David Villa’s prolific scoring in this season’s Spanish league with Valencia boosts his chances of action in his debut in a major tournament.
   ‘It will be very important for us to start with a win against Ukraine,’ Villa told sports daily AS. ‘Getting our first three points would give us a real lift.’
   Liverpool’s Alonso, Valencia’s David Albelda and perhaps Fabregas and another newcomer, Villarreal’s Brazilian-born Marcos Senna, are in the running for central midfield roles.
   Arsenal’s Jose Antonio Reyes, Real Betis’ Joaquin Sanchez and Liverpool’s Garcia are hoping to occupy forward roles on the wings, although Valencia left winger Vicente Rodriguez may be ruled out with injury.
   Barcelona captain Carles Puyol should partner Atletico Madrid’s Pablo Ibanez at the heart of the defence in front of Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas. The full-back roles are likely to go to Atletico’s Antonio Lopez and Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos.

One in two Berliners is irritated by the disruption caused by next month’s World Cup, a survey showed on Wednesday.
   Pollster Emnid found 49 per cent of the 1,008 questioned said the ‘commotion’ about the World Cup was getting on their nerves.
   The same number said the prospect of transport chaos and cordoned-off areas in the capital filled them ‘with horror’.
   However, the survey, published by the Berliner Morgenpost daily, showed 53 per cent of residents agreed with a statement that they were ‘looking forward to the World Cup matches’. Women were less enthusiastic than men about the event, which Germany hosts between June 9 and July 9, although they were slightly more optimistic about the German team’s chances.
   Overall, respondents thought the squad coached by Juergen Klinsmann were more likely to be knocked out in the group stage than win the tournament.
   Nearly one in five said Germany would fail to reach the second round. Just 15 per cent forecast the host nation would be crowned world champions.

The sphere of Deutsche Telekom’s television tower in Berlin has been transformed into a giant soccer ball, a month before the start of the World Cup.
   More than 8,000 pink and silver strips—the colours of World Cup sponsor Deutsche Telekom—were attached to the ‘visitor’s globe’ by climbers hanging on cables.
   The decoration will stay on the 368-metre tower, which was built in Communist East Berlin in 1969, for 60 days.

A German soccer official has criticised FIFA’s choice of World Cup referees and said UEFA Cup final referee Herbert Fandel should have been picked.
   ‘One referee who usually only works in the student city league in Singapore is going to the World Cup and Fandel is sent off into the cold—and no one knows why,’ Manfred Amerell, referee spokesman for the German football association (DFB), said on Wednesday.
   He said Norway’s Terje Hauge should also have been among the 23 referees chosen by FIFA for the finals starting on June 9. ‘You can’t treat the public as if they’re dumb,’ said Amerell. ‘If he (FIFA president Sepp Blatter) talks about the best referees, then a couple of the best, at least from Europe, are missing.’

Juventus’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Barcelona’s Henrik Larsson among six strikers named in Sweden’s World Cup squad on Tuesday while right back Alexander Ostlund was dropped in a defensive shake-up.
   Ostlund, who plays for Southampton, was heavily criticised after Sweden lost 3-0 to Ireland in a friendly in March.
   Coach Lars Lagerback has brought in IFK Gothenburg’s Karl Svensson and Fredrik Stenman, who has had a strong first season with Bayer Leverkusen but has never played for Sweden. Mikael Nilsson, who has had little time on the pitch for Greek side Panathinaikos, was also among the defenders.
   Nilsson has played in midfield and defence for Sweden and shared the right back role with Ostlund during Euro 2004.
   Another surprise was Fredriksborg’s Rami Shaaban as one of three goalkeepers, with Eddie Gustafsson of Ham-Kam left out. First choice keeper Andreas Isaksson has retained his place.
   Shaaban played three games for Arsenal in 2002 before breaking his leg in training later that year after which he never played for the north London side again.
   Sweden are in Group B with Paraguay, England and Trinidad & Tobago at the finals in Germany starting on June 9.
   ‘It is quite easy to pick out 15 to 16 players but we had most discussion about the goalkeepers and the backs,’ Lagerback told a news conference.
   Defence was seen as Lagerback’s main problem, although he said he was satisfied with his choices.
   ‘Alexander (Ostlund) has changed clubs and has had an up and down spring in Southampton,’ Lagerback was quoted as saying by the daily Expressen newspaper.
   ‘We have followed him but think that we now have better alternatives in Niclas (Alexandersson) and Mikael (Nilsson).’
   There were few surprises among the other defenders in the squad, who include Erik Edman of Stade Rennes, Petter Hansson of Heerenveen and Olof Mellberg of Aston Villa.
   The forwards called up were also as expected with Ibrahimovic and Larsson being joined by Marcus Allback of FC Copenhagen, Johan Elmander of Brondby, Mattias Jonson of Djurgarden and Markus Rosenberg of Ajax Amsterdam.
   Fredrik Ljungberg of Arsenal and Kim Kallstrom of Stade Rennes were among Lagerback’s midfield selections.
   Squad:
   Goalkeepers: Andreas Isaksson, John Alvbage, Rami Shaaban .
   Defenders: Erik Edman, Petter Hansson, Teddy Lucic, Olof Mellberg, Karl Svensson , Mikael Nilsson, Fredrik Stenman.
   Midfielders: Daniel Andersson, Niclas Alexandersson, Kim Källström, Tobias Linderoth, Christian Wilhelmsson, Anders Svensson , Fredrik Ljungberg .
   Forwards: Marcus Allbäck, Johan Elmander, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mattias Jonson, Henrik Larsson, Markus Rosenberg.

Cristiano Ronaldo shot to international soccer stardom after his transfer from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United three years ago, when he was still a teenager.
   The 2006 World Cup could be the next step in the making of a world-class player.
   ‘We reckon that Cristiano could soon become a strong candidate for best player in the world,’ said Manchester United’s assistant manager Carlos Queiroz.
   Ronaldo has a natural gift of balance, speed and ball control. But the teenage prodigy has blossomed into a more tactically shrewd and team-oriented player under his mentors at the club and country levels: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and Portugal’s Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
   ‘He’s very young and has a long road ahead of him. He still needs to mature a bit more,’ Scolari said. ‘I treat him a bit differently from the other players because he’s younger than my eldest son.’
   Ferguson broke what was then the world record transfer fee for a teenager, paying more than $21.5 million for 18-year-old Ronaldo in August 2003. The Scot, whose managerial career covers more than 30 years, said Ronaldo was one of the most exciting young players he’d sever seen, then handed him departed David Beckham’s No. 7 jersey.
   A week later, Scolari gave Ronaldo his international debut.
   The winger started the 2004 European Championship on the bench. By the time Portugal reached the final, he was in the starting lineup.
   Ronaldo now has 30 international appearances and 11 goals for Portugal. In World Cup qualifying, he scored seven and had four assists. He has starred in 17 of Portugal’s 18 games since September 2004.
   The 21-year-old’s deft dribbling, lightning acceleration and neat passing opens up defenses and thrills crowds. But in a test of his versatility, he has had to juggle divergent demands for Man U and with the national side.
   With Portugal, he is a second striker, supporting center-forward Pauleta.
   ‘I need something different from him in the national team than the role he fills at Manchester United,’ Scolari said. ‘At his club, they play with two strikers, so he stays on the wing. We need him to do more than that.’
   Ronaldo can still look inexperienced.
   Europe’s soccer governing body gave him a one-match ban for using an obscene gesture in a Champions League game last December after his patience was tested by jeering Portuguese fans throughout the match.
   But he has come through two other ordeals recently.
   Ronaldo’s father died on the eve of a World Cup qualifying game in Moscow and he played anyway. Then in October, he was arrested by British police after allegations he sexually assaulted a woman at a London hotel. He did not face charges due to insufficient evidence.
   They were the low moments in an otherwise impressive early career.
   In March, he scored twice in a friendly against Saudi Arabia to become the youngest Portuguese player to reach 10 goals for the national team, beating Eusebio, perhaps the nation’s greatest player ever, by two years.
   Such feats allow him to dream of even greater achievements in Germany.
   ‘I’ve already pictured myself holding the (World Cup) trophy,’ Ronaldo said, ‘and nobody can hold that against me.’

The clamour to include Bayern Munich midfielder Mehmet Scholl in Germany’s final World Cup squad continues to grow with 175,000 Germans signing a petition for his inclusion.
   The petition is entitled ‘Scholl for Germany’ and the two students behind the idea, Frank Enders and Sebastian Glemser will hand the list of 175,000 signatures over to national coach Jurgen Klinsmann on Friday.
   Klinsmann will name his final 23-man World Cup squad three days later on May 15 - the FIFA deadline for all squads.
   The 35-year-old Scholl is not expected to be included as just a month ago Klinsmann said there was no place for the Bayern playmaker.
   Scholl, the first player of Turkish descent to represent Germany, won 36 caps for the national team before retiring in 2002.
   This season he has turned back the clock with some stellar substitute displays to win a record eighth Bundesliga title with Bayern.
   However, last month Scholl was omitted from a provisional 30-man squad named by Klinsmann and the German team boss said at the time: ‘We are delighted by Mehmet’s performances at Bayern over the last few weeks.
   ‘But our main focus is the tight group of 28 to 30 players. These have the priority.’

Alan Shearer claimed on Tuesday that Michael Owen is ‘embarrassed’ about his injury nightmare - and says it would be ‘scary’ for England to go to the World Cup without him.
   Former England captain Shearer admits his Newcastle team-mate Owen is still not happy about his fitness more than five months after breaking his foot.
   It puts a major doubt over Owen’s World Cup chances as he faces a battle to get fit and has also put his Newcastle career on hold since his £16million move from Real Madrid.
   Shearer said: ‘Michael was so disappointed that he couldn’t play a part in the last few weeks of our season because, more than anything, he feels a bit embarrassed by it.
   ‘We paid a lot of money for him, and he wants to be part of it. We sampled a bit of it early on because his goals per game ratio is fantastic.
   ‘But he felt some discomfort against Birmingham and he felt it again in training this week and wants to get it 100 per cent right.
   ‘He doesn’t want to be 70 or 80 per cent, he wants to be 100 per cent.
   ‘He’s going on a training camp with England to Portugal next week and he’s hoping to play in all three games in the build up. But it would be scary to be without Rooney and Michael Owen.’

Barcelona’s dynamic duo of Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o have welcomed Theo Walcott into an elite group of players who gained international prominence as teenagers.
   Walcott, 17, was the biggest surprise in England’s World Cup squad named by coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.
   But Ronaldinho, the two-time reigning FIFA World Player of the Year, said after Barcelona’s training session on Wednesday: ‘Football has no age. If he has quality, I see no problem in him being included.
   ‘I think it’s a normal thing.’
   Ronaldinho, who has been the inspiration behind Barcelona’s successful Spanish title defence and qualification for the Champions League final, does not believe the pressure will be too great on the striker.
   ‘I really don’t believe it will,’ he said. There is nothing greater than playing in the biggest competition in the world when you are young. He has to enjoy the moment.’
   Eto’o says he is thrilled for Walcott.
   He was the same age when he represented Cameroon at France 98.
   ‘I played at the World Cup at the age of 17,’ he said.
   ‘I think he (Walcott) has to live the dream to the maximum.
   ‘The World Cup is the most important event in a footballer’s life and I remember when I was told that I would play in a World Cup. It was one of the most important days in my life.
   ‘At 17, it’s a dream. You cannot believe it’s happening to you. I loved the experience and I remember running on a pitch after a game against Italy.
   ‘I went running onto the pitch to ask for (Roberto) Baggio’s shirt.’
   Walcott is not expected to play for Arsenal in the Champions League final in Paris against Barcelona.
   If he were to be with the Gunners, however, Eto’o said he would gladly exchange shirts with the teen after the game.
   ‘I think I would give it to him because we have to help all the young players to help them come through because they are the football of tomorrow,’ Eto’o said.

A lack of World Cup experience isn’t going to stop Ukraine from dreaming big. The former Soviet republic proved it was a threat to challenge for the title when it became the first European team to qualify for the final tournament. Ukraine beat out Turkey, which reached the semifinals at the last World Cup, European champion Greece and Denmark for the coveted slot.
   At the World Cup, the Ukrainian team will face Spain, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia in Group H.
   Led by one of the world’s top strikers, AC Milan’s Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine also has a top-notch goalkeeper in Oleksandr Shovkovskiy and solid defenders.
   The team allowed only seven goals in its 12 qualifying games - and three of those came in games after the team had secured its berth.
   Ukraine is coached by Oleh Blokhin, a Soviet soccer star who is worshipped by his team and this nation of 47 million.
   ‘There is a kind of euphoria now that we have for the first time in 15 years reached the World Cup finals,’ Blokhin said recently.
   Ukraine is home to 1999 Champions League semifinalist Dynamo Kiev, but the country has been slow to make its mark internationally. Many of the key players in the Soviet national team hailed from Ukraine, but with the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, they choose to play for Russia.
   Since its independence, Ukraine saw its hopes of entering the World Cup dashed twice at the last stage. When it qualified last September, hundreds of fans turned out at the airport to cheer the exhilarated team.
   Now posters of the players dot Ukraine’s picturesque capital, and excitement about the tournament is building. Ukrainians also take a certain pride in the fact that they are the only ex-Soviet republic to have won a berth, while the country’s former master, Russia, is sitting out.
   ‘I don’t like how so much hope is being pinned on us,’ Blokhin told the Ukrainian weekly news magazine Kommersant. ‘The boys are under huge pressure. We’ll see what happens.’
   Ukraine got lucky with a comparably easy draw, but its not so lucky in that it must make its World Cup debut against group favorite Spain. Ukraine met Spain twice in 2004, drawing once and losing 2-1 after a tough battle.
   ‘Our first task is to qualify from the group,’ Blokhin said.
   Saudi Arabia has immersed itself in numerous back-to-back friendly matches to prepare, and Blokhin admits that team is ‘the biggest mystery of the group.’ Tunisia won the African Cup of Nations and is packed with players who play for top European clubs, he said.
   Ukraine comes to the tournament as a well-coached and well-disciplined team. But critics say the team tends to rely too heavily on Shevchenko.
   However, Shevchenko’s star power - he won the Golden Ball in 2004 - can also be used to Ukraine’s advantage. Sometimes, opposition teams concentrate all their attention on him, freeing up other players such as Bayer Leverkusen’s Andrei Voronin, a powerful striker in his own right.
   Ukraine also has a strong defense, with the added advantage that many play together on club teams, giving them a well-worn familiarity.
   The major weaknesses: a talented midfield that doesn’t always shine and the lack of experienced reserve players. If Shevchenko is struggling, the whole team struggles.
   ‘I will not lie to you,’ Blokhin told Korrespondent. ‘I’m concerned by the level of our players, of our national team.’
   Blokhin, though, has expressed doubts in the past - but has still come through. He played for the Soviet Union in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups and promised that he would take Ukraine to the tournament. Many were disheartened when they saw Ukraine’s qualifying group - one of the hardest - but Blokhin pulled them through.
   Now, he’s promised he’ll get them through the World Cup’s first round.
   There’s an attitude of ‘now let’s go and win the competition,’ Blokhin said. ‘I think that is not the way things happen. Although all 32 countries have an equal chance.’

When Luis Figo, Rui Costa, Fernando Couto and Co - Portugal’s ‘golden generation’ - packed their bags for home after being eliminated at the group stage of the last World Cup, Deco was watching, rather disinterestedly, from afar.
   Four years on and with a bagful of club winner’s medals to his name, the Brazilian-born midfielder finds himself spearheading Portugal’s challenge in the famous tournament’s latest edition. ‘It’s my first time and I’m looking forward to it,’ begins the midfielder who was christened Anderson Luis de Souza 28 years ago in Sao Paulo. ‘I also think we stand a pretty good chance.’
   Portugal, who cruised through the qualifying campaign - winning nine and drawing three of their 12 games to top their group by seven points, face Angola, Iran and then Mexico in a far from daunting-looking Group D.
   ‘Yes, it (qualifying) was quite easy. We won the games we had to win and scored lots of goals. It’s a good sign,’ he admits from a sofa at the Nou Camp before casting an eye in the direction of his team-mate and Mexico star Rafael Marquez, who happens to be standing close by. ‘Now everyone is saying it’s an easy group but we have to be careful. He (Marquez) and his team will give us problems, but I hope we can both qualify.’
   The player reveals a rich knowledge of the history of the competition, recalling his first experience as a ten-year-old watching Maradona and Zico at Mexico 86 while sat at home in Brazil with his family.
   ‘We’ll never be considered favourites like Brazil or Argentina,’ he adds, ‘because we don’t have their tradition in the World Cup. We have reached the semi-finals just once (1966) but we shouldn’t forget that this is the same Portugal team that reached the final of the European Championship not so long ago and beat England, Spain and Holland.
   ‘I’d say we are on the same level as Spain or Czech Republic - we have class players with a chance of winning. If we can get past the group stage, anything can happen.’
   Something of a late developer, Deco was signed by Benfica as a teenager, becoming just one of the thousands of exports from that football-rich nation. Loaned out to smaller teams Alverca and Salgueiros, he finally gained recognition at Porto under the keen eye of Jose Mourinho.
   His rise came at a time when the nation was in a state of shock following Portugal’s early exit at Korea/Japan. And with UEFA EURO 2004 around the corner, many were becoming sensitive of the need to replace the ‘golden generation’ that had won the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1991 but arguably peaked at EURO 2000 when reaching the semi-finals.
   Deco, who was now winning rave reviews as Porto’s playmaker on the way to conquering Europe, fell under the media spotlight. While Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said he would consider him along with ‘millions of Brazilian players’, Portugal’s new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, the man that had led Brazil to their fifth world title, persuaded Deco, who by February 2003 had been earning his living for six years in Portugal, to represent his adopted country.
   ‘Fans kept coming up to me in the street urging me to do it,’ he remembers. ‘Although sooner or later I knew I would have got the chance with Brazil, I felt as though I should give something back to Portugal who had helped form me as a footballer.’
   If there were any misgivings about his commitment, they were immediately dispelled on his debut – against none other than Brazil. Deco was sent on by Scolari as a late substitute and with eight minutes to go, the player struck home the winning goal –a free kick – to give the Brazilian his debut win as coach and Portugal their first victory against Brazil for 37 years.
   Nicknamed Mágico by Porto fans, the playmaker would go on to mesmerise opposition defences throughout Europe, grabbing winner’s medals in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League. He continued to be a talisman for Scolari, who is said to be among the most superstitious of coaches, and won the playmaker role in the team ahead of the popular Rui Costa after the host nation had lost the opening game of EURO 2004.
   Armed with the most delicate of first touches, the fastest of brains and the widest of visions, the impish creator helped Portugal to the final where they again lost out to Greece.
   ‘He (Scolari) is very relaxed and has a lot of fun with players, completely different to how he’s perceived by the press,’ says Deco breaking into a smile. ‘We could not be better prepared either. Brazil may be the world champions but we have the world champion coach. We also have the same team that gained so much experience at EURO 2004 and have been together for another two years to improve.’
   In addition to playing alongside his former Porto team-mates Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Maniche and Costinha, Deco has also built a splendid relationship with influential wingers Simao and Cristiano Ronaldo.
   ‘It’s great to play for the national team at the moment,’ says Deco, who, for Portugal, occupies his favourite central position without the defensive duties that have sometimes limited his creativity for Barcelona this season. ‘We are all relaxed. It’s like a big group of friends. I feel at home.’
   As Scolari has no doubt picked up on, success seems to follow the boy from Brazil around. Barcelona have won back-to-back league titles after a six-year wait and are gunning for the Champions League title, which would place Deco among a select few to have won Europe’s top competition with different clubs. A remarkable four years for any footballer, but Deco’s burning ambitions are not spent just yet.
   ‘Playing these extra games (at the FIFA World Cup) is more a psychological challenge than a physical one. You begin 20 days before the competition even starts and it’s not easy to stay focused after a long season,’ he admits. ‘But we’re no worse than most other teams and in terms of the quantity of quality players there’s only one country that would be up there top – Brazil.’
   Deco smiles at the thought of confronting Edmilson and Ronaldinho, colleagues with whom he has become firm friends. ‘If we do well, we could come up against them in the semi-finals or final,’ he concludes before adding with understatement. ‘It would be a special game.’

Ecuador included temperamental Argentina-based striker Ivan Kaviedes in their 23-man World Cup squad on Tuesday.
   Kaviedes, who has also played in Italy, Spain, Mexico, England and Portugal, made his last appearance for Ecuador in their 5-2 World Cup qualifying win over Paraguay in March 2005.
   Injured forward Franklin Salas was the major absentee while Damian Lanza got the nod as the third-choice goalkeeper and coach Luis Fernando Suarez gave surprise call-ups to central defender Jose Luis Perlaza and striker Cristian Benitez.
   Squad
   Goalkeepers: Edwin Villafuerte, Cristian Mora, Damian Lanza
   Defenders: Ivan Hurtado, Giovanny Espinoza, Ulises de la Cruz, Paul Ambrossi, Neicer Reasco, Jorge Guagua, Jose Luis Perlaza
   Midfielders: Marlon Ayovi, Edwin Tenorio, Edison Mendez, Patricio Urrutia, Cristian Lara, Segundo Castillo, Luis Antonio Valencia, Luis Fernando Saritama
   Forwards: Cristian Benitez, Felix Borja, Carlos Tenorio, Agustin Delgado, Ivan Kaviedes.

Already considered one of Sweden’s greatest players at 24, Zlatan Ibrahimovic could well become one of the world’s best. He has the size and skills.
   His temperament is another matter.
   The Juventus striker is a defender’s nightmare. At 6-foot-3, he knows how to use his height. He’s also a gifted dribbler, a rare talent for someone that tall.
   Ibrahimovic scored 16 goals in his first season with Juventus, helping the Turin team capture the Italian title last year.
   But this season has been no easy ride. Critics questioned his place in the starting lineup after his scoring dried up in February after only six goals in Serie A. He then lost his place in the starting lineup to Alessandro Del Piero and didn’t score again until last Sunday.
   In Sweden, however, his spot as a starter is guaranteed, barring injury. He fits well with veteran striker Henrik Larsson, and there isn’t any other forward who can match his skill in the Swedish attack.
   ‘Right now, they play so well together it’s dangerous whenever one of them has the ball,’ Trinidad and Tobago coach Leo Beenhakker said, referring to Larsson and Ibrahmimovic, whom he recruited to Ajax in 2001.
   ‘Those two guys are not just fantastic individual players, they also understand each other incredibly well.’
   Added Sweden coach Lars Lagerback: ‘Juventus have had a very tough period when things have gone badly, and then it’s not easy for Zlatan, Del Piero or (David) Trezeguet to shine.
   ‘If you look at Zlatan today, he is a significantly better football player than he was two years ago, when he was a success in the European Championships. He has become stronger both physically and mentally.’
   Born in a troubled immigrant neighborhood of Malmo to a Croatian mother and Bosnian father, Ibrahimovic is somewhat of a misfit on the homogenous Swedish team. His me-first personality jars with Swedish traditions of teamwork, modesty and sportsmanship.
   Yet the Swedish fans love him. Ibrahimovic performs tricks on the field no other player wearing the nation’s yellow-and-blue jersey would even dream of.
   In Euro 2004 in Portugal, his acrobatic back-heel goal in Sweden’s’ 1-1 tie with Italy was one of the tournament’s highlights. In his last game with Ajax Amsterdam before joining Juve, he dribbled past four NAC Breda defenders—one of them twice—before rolling the ball past a helpless goalkeeper.
   But Ibrahimovic’s penchant for the spectacular can also be a liability. He is often criticized for making things too complicated, sacrificing efficiency for flair. And when the scoring dries up, as it has this season, such complaints grow louder.
   The result has been a return to the moodiness that gave young Ibrahimovic a reputation as a boastful hothead who
   ran afoul of teammates and opponents alike when playing for Swedish club Malmo FF.
   At Juventus, his reported spats with teammates, as well as coach Fabio Capello, did not improve his standing as the club saw a comfortable league lead dwindle to a few points in the last weeks of the season.
   Ibrahimovic will have a chance to start anew at the World Cup, where Sweden faces England, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago in the group stage.
   Defenders dismiss him at their peril.

Australia coach Guus Hiddink named a tried and trusted 23-man squad on Wednesday for the FIFA World Cup in Germany.
   The only surprises were the inclusion of towering German-based striker Josh Kennedy and locally-based defenders Mark Milligan and Michael Beauchamp. Everton midfielder Tim Cahill was selected despite concerns about his injured knee from his English club and Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer was picked after recovering from a broken cheekbone.
   ‘About 90 to 95 per cent of the positions were already picked... so at the end it wasn’t that difficult,’ Hiddink said in a statement.
   ‘There were only three positions to be decided. We already had in our heads the basic positions of the team but we needed to be flexible as well.’
   Kennedy, a 1.94m striker with German second division club Dynamo Dresden, was chosen to add extra height up front despite being uncapped at international level.
   Milligan, also uncapped, caught the selectors’ attention during Australia’s U-23s tour of Vietnam while Beauchamp made his international debut in Australia’s AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Bahrain in February.
   Australia were forced to start looking for a new defender at short notice when Tony Vidmar announced on Tuesday he was pulling out because of a heart condition.
   ‘It is unbelievable. It is a dream come true to go to the World Cup and I am still struggling to come to terms with it,’ Milligan told a news conference at Sydney airport, where the squad was announced against the backdrop of a Boeing 767 painted in the Socceroos’ livery.
   The squad is packed with experienced players who ply their trade in Europe and Britain, including Australia’s best-known players Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka.
   A decision on who will captain the team has been delayed until this month’s friendly against Greece in Melbourne but Viduka and Newcastle United defender Craig Moore are the only real contenders.
   ‘Viduka’s done nothing wrong and Craig Moore’s done nothing wrong,’ assistant coach Graham Arnold told Reuters. ‘Both of them would be very proud to be captain going to a World Cup but it’s something Guus wants to think about.’
   Australia have made only one appearance at the FIFA World Cup finals, in 1974, where they were eliminated after the first round. They face another daunting challenge to make the second round this time after being drawn in the same group as Brazil, Croatia and Japan.
   ‘We’ve got some wonderful players around the world that have carved out their own careers and now we’re coming together as a national team and we’re a very good national team,’ Arnold said.
   Squad:
   Goalkeepers: Mark Schwarzer, Zeljko Kalac, Ante Covic.
   Defenders: Michael Beauchamp, Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Tony Popovic, Mark Milligan.
   Midfielders: Marco Bresciano, Tim Cahill, Scott Chipperfield, Jason Culina, Brett Emerton, Vince Grella, Stan Lazaridis, Josip Skoko, Mile Sterjovski, Luke Wilkshire.
   Strikers: John Aloisi, Harry Kewell, Archie Thompson, Mark Viduka, Josh Kennedy.

Even though Argentina have been drawn in one of the trickiest groups for next month’s World Cup, striker Hernan Crespo is confident they will avoid a repeat of their first-round elimination four years ago.
   After being tipped as one of the tournament favourites in South Korea and Japan, the twice former champions were sent packing following opening-round matches with England, Sweden and Nigeria.
   Argentina were handed another tough draw for next month’s World Cup in Germany, having been paired with Netherlands, Ivory Coast and Serbia & Montenegro in Group C.
   ‘We’ve got another difficult group,’ the Chelsea forward told Reuters in an interview held during a squad get-together in Madrid. ‘But we’ve got the necessary experience to deal with it.
   ‘I think it will be less difficult than last time because there is no ‘classico’ in this group. Argentina against England was a ‘classico’ because a game like that generates huge interest and it conditions all the other group games.
   ‘We have a great chance to get through...maybe we are starting the World Cup before other teams as we know we will need to focus from the very first game.’
   The 30-year-old Crespo said the disappointment of 2002 would not impact upon Argentina.
   ‘I don’t think we carry any burden from the failure last time,’ he said. ‘Football is a question of destiny in many cases.
   ‘For example in the game against Sweden (in the last World Cup), Argentina had a huge number of chances to score and we just couldn’t convert them so we missed out on qualification.
   ‘It just wasn’t meant to be our day and that’s the way things work in the game.
   ‘It is our desire to win the World Cup again but it is going to be difficult and we mustn’t forget that in the history of football, Argentina has only won the World Cup twice. That shows how difficult it will be to win it.’
   Although he viewed Brazil as firm favourites to win the tournament for a sixth time, Crespo said Argentina were capable of beating the champions in a one-off game.
   ‘They won the last World Cup, the last Copa America and the last Confederations Cup and all their players are important figures at their clubs,’ he said.
   ‘But anything can happen in a one-off match. We beat them 3-1 in qualification and this competition is not like a league championship which lasts over a whole season.’
   Argentina’s last World Cup triumph came 20 years ago when they were inspired by Diego Maradona.
   The latest in a long line of players viewed as the new Maradona is Lionel Messi but Crespo believed the Barcelona forward should ignore the comparisons.
   ‘There is an Argentine necessity to search for a successor to Maradona but Maradona is unique,’ he said. ‘For me he is the only player it is impossible to imitate because of his characteristics.
   ‘Messi is going through a process of maturity which will allow him to overcome the pressure and concentrate on the game. If he plays in the final of the Champions League (against Arsenal) and at the World Cup he should make sure he enjoys it.’
   Crespo said his championship-winning season at Chelsea had given him additional confidence ahead of the tournament.
   ‘I’m very proud of this season,’ he said. ‘It has been difficult for me to live in England but I’m very proud because we won the trophy and we have great fans and a great group of players.
   ‘When you have this combination you normally win something and we won the league. When you win something you want to keep on winning things and I see no reason why I can’t carry on at the World Cup.’
   Crespo, though, was unsure whether he would be staying at Chelsea.
   ‘I don’t know what will happen next season but I was very happy there,’ he said.

German international goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said Wednesday it was by no means certain that he would quit the national team after next month’s World Cup finals in his homeland.
   Kahn turns 37 during the finals, running from June 9 until July 9, but rather than thinking of retirment, the Bayern Munich man believes he can follow in the footsteps of Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff and play on until he is 40.
   ‘Most people probably expect me to stop at 37 but I am not thinking about that at the moment,’ Kahn said in magazine SportBild.
   ‘Why should I quit if I am in good shape and I am still highly motivated? Three years ago when things were not going so well I seriously thought about retiring.
   ‘But who knows perhaps I will have a surge in form. Anything is possible and as I said I could still be in goal at 40.’
   Goalkeeping legend Dino Zoff won the 1982 World Cup with Italy at the age of 40 and is Kahn’s inspiration.
   ‘Dino Zoff was a World Cup winner at 40 and as long as I spend more time on the training ground than at the doctors I am confident of carrying on,’ added Kahn.
   Kahn, capped 84 times by his country, is second choice behind Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann heading into the finals and Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge believes he will call it a day after the World Cup.
   ‘After the World Cup he will quit the national team and concentrate on trying to win more trophies with Bayern,’ Rummenigge said in an interview with Bild daily.
   Kahn is contracted at Bayern until 2008 when he is expected to make way for promising German Under-21 goalkeeper Michael Rensing.

David Beckham admits England are a better side with Wayne Rooney but insists they have the players to succeed without the Manchester United striker.
    He desperately hopes Rooney will appear at the World Cup in Germany, the England skipper is adamant the team has an abundance of talent in all areas.
   He said: ‘We are a better team and squad with him. What we have to remember is we have other great players and other captains - great midfielders, defenders and forwards in our team. We’ve got players who have played in big games so we have to step forward now.
   ‘People have said there is a lot of pressure on Wayne Rooney. But he is a footballer for Manchester United and England - of course there is a lot of pressure.
   ‘He is the best young player in world football at this present time and there is a lot of expectation there.
   ‘We can talk about it and talk about it until he is fit for hopefully one of the games in the World Cup but we’ve all got to stay positive. I know he’ll stay positive and that is the most important thing because of course we need Wayne Rooney - you want your best players on the team and he is one of our best players.
   ‘I spent many years at Manchester United and the medical staff are very good there. They will look after him, the manager will look after him and make sure he is not going anywhere unless he is fit because I’m sure he doesn’t want him coming back next season having the same problems.
   ‘He needs to take care of himself which he will do. He’s working very hard to get himself fit because he knows what it means to himself, the team and the country but I think the most important thing is his health.’

Legendary striker Eusebio has warned Portugal’s squad against complacency during the group stage at the World Cup which it will begin with a match against debutants Angola in Germany on June 11.
   ‘Be humble. Think that the first game is the final. And be careful with Angola. If they are at the World Cup it is because they are tops in Africa,’ he said in comments published Tuesday in sports daily A Bola.
   ‘Our adversaries in the group stage are all difficult. Today there are no easy matches,’ he added.
   Portugal are in Group D which pits them against Iran and Mexico as well as its former colony Angola.
   Eusebio blamed overconfidence for Portugal’s first-round exit from the 2002 World Cup held in Japan and South Korea which included a shock 3-2 defeat to rank outsiders the United States during their first match of the tournament.
   ‘When we left Lisbon in 2002 we were all convinced that we would be world champions, that the game against the United States was already won and then...it was a lesson, just like Euro 2004,’ he said.
   At Euro 2004 hosts Portugal beat Spain, England and Holland but ended up losing twice to eventual winners, lowly-ranked Greece.
   Benfica’s international striker Nuno Gomes meanwhile said the national team was aware that Angola would put up a strong challenge.
   ‘I hope Portugal will be able to score goals against Angola but it will not be easy. We have to admit that Angola is a difficult team and we have to be prepared,’ he told state-owned television RTP.

England superkid Theo Walcott missed Michael Owen’s wonder goal in the 1998 World Cup — because it was past his bedtime.
   Theo, 17, was a nine-year-old primary school pupil when his hero Owen burst into international football stardom with a great goal against Argentina.
   He recalled: ‘I didn’t see the Argentina game. I have Michael Owen’s goal on tape but the game must have been past my bedtime.’
   Pundits were stunned on Monday when England boss Sven Goran Eriksson picked Theo for his World Cup squad in June — despite the teenage Arsenal striker having never played a Premiership game.
   On Tuesday, Theo’s stunning girlfriend Melanie Slade, 17, told of her joy at his selection. And he revealed he celebrated the shock news by playing World Cup monopoly with his dad Don.
   Untried Theo, signed by Arsenal for £12million from Southampton, is an unlikely 125/1 bet to claim the Golden Boot as World Cup top scorer. But he made sure he grabbed the boot token to play the football version of the board game.
   He said: ‘We went home, switched off all the tellies and played with my dad and my mate Adam. I just wanted to get away from things.
   ‘I used the Golden Boot piece but Dad won, which I wasn’t very happy about. I bought Brazil and the Czech Republic but I had to mortgage them in the end.’
   He was taking his driving test theory exam when he was named in Sven’s 23-man squad. Theo said: ‘Afterwards I rang my dad and he said I was in the squad. I thought he was having me on.
   ‘My eyes were just popping out of my head. It was emotional, something special. I was shocked and surprised. I’m still shocked now.
   ‘I hadn’t been thinking about it too much. I had my driving test to think about.
   ‘My girlfriend Mel passed first time so I wanted to match her. My practical test was to be in June but obviously I can’t do that now.’
   Melanie said at her parents’ Southampton home: ‘I’m extremely happy for him. Neither of us can believe it. It’s unreal’. Gorgeous Melanie, who met Theo when he played for Southampton, added: ‘He was so excited. This is such a good thing for him. I hope he does very well.’
   Blonde Melanie is in the sixth form at college. Her dad Peter is a Lib Dem councillor and mayor elect of Southampton.
   Theo knows he owes a lot to his civil servant dad, who has worked tirelessly to help further his career.
   Friend Michael Elias revealed that Don’s bosses even threatened him with the sack because he wanted to watch his son’s Southampton debut.
   Michael, 52, said: ‘They weren’t keen on him taking the time off. But he went anyway.’
   After his England selection Theo told a pal: ‘I can’t wait to face Thierry Henry’. The chum said: ‘Thierry’s been an inspiration to Theo. He can’t believe they could now play each other on the world stage.’ The earliest the Arsenal pair could face each other is if England play France in the semi-finals.
   Theo has no nerves about the possibility of playing. He said: ‘It would be great. Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney both started young.’
   But he insisted he is still just an ordinary boy from Compton, near Newbury, Berks — where he first played football and acted in his school’s production of Bugsy Malone.
   Theo said: ‘I’ve had a very normal, balanced life. I don’t drink and just like spending time with my family and my girlfriend.’
   Bookies reckon Theo is more likely to pass his driving test (odds of 11/10) than score in the World Cup (odds of 6/4).

Almost 70,000 fans filled Old Trafford on Tuesday to honour former captain Roy Keane’s contribution to Manchester United.
   Ireland midfielder Keane, 34, who joined Celtic in January after more than 12 ½ years and close to 500 games for United, was given a fitting send off by the Manchester fans in a testimonial match won 1-0 by the home team.
   Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal in the second half. Keane, who won seven league titles and four FA Cups with United, swapped the green and white hoops of Celtic for the red of the Manchester club at halftime.
   Playing one final time for United manager Alex Ferguson, who hailed Keane as one of the club’s finest players of all time, the Irishman set up the winning goal for Ronaldo.
   ‘You get clubs who are happy to come second or third. Not United,’ Keane said in the match programme.
   ‘The fans don’t deserve anything less than winning and that’s what the manager and the club are about.’
   Keane also spoke briefly on the pitch at the end of the game, saying: ‘This is something I will remember for the rest of my life’.

Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o says a friendly feud with Cameroon compatriot Geremi is spurring him on to win next week’s Champions League final against Arsenal.
   ‘Geremi is always flaunting it in my face that he has won two European Cups,’ Eto’o told sports daily Sport on Wednesday.
   ‘Things like this get to me. But I ask him if he wants to bet on who will end up winning more European Cups, then he shuts up.’ Chelsea’s versatile midfielder Geremi has two winners’ medals from the 1998 and 2000 finals which he won with Real Madrid.
   Eto’o said: ‘If we win next week it will be my first Cup. The one Real won in 1998 I don’t consider mine because although I was in the official photo, I didn’t do much else.
   ‘I would be a liar if I said I didn’t want to score next week but in all honesty I would rather miss six sitters and that the team won. That’s far more important.’

The centrepiece of Real Madrid City, the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium, has been inaugurated.
   The ground will host home games for Madrid’s reserve team.
   Di Stefano, who was seriously ill in hospital over Christmas but is now in better health and is back at home, was at the ceremony to open the venue along with club captain Raul.
   Di Stefano, an Argentinian who played on the Real team which won five titles in a row in the fifties and sixties, said he hopes the ground will ‘produce seven great footballers’ over the coming years.

Around 16,000 employees of private firms will help handle stadia security and team safety at next month’s World Cup, the German organising committee said Wednesday.
   ‘We are well-equipped. We have never had such a good set-up for a big event in Germany,’ said Helmut Spahn, security official for the organising committee.
   German organisers have also called on security group Securitas to provide surveillance at the team hotels and training grounds.
   ‘Some teams want to be completely shut off from the fans while others are more open,’ explained Securitas spokesman Axel Leyendecker.

With the World Cup just 30 days away German organisers are working frantically to re-lay all the pitches at the 12 host stadia.
   The wear and tear of the Bundesliga season has left its mark on the German pitches and organisers want all of them in pristine condition for the finals.

German international defender Christoph Metzelder is still expected to be included in Jurgen Klinsmann’s World Cup squad despite being sidelined for two weeks with a calf injury.
   Klinsmann names his final 23-man World Cup squad on Monday and Borussia Dortmund defender Metzelder is set to be included.

Arsenal supporters hoping to buy seats from Highbury stadium have been disappointed after the club discovered they contain small amounts of a toxic metal.
   The seats were being sold at around 20 pounds ($37) each after Arsenal played their final game at Highbury on Sunday before moving to the nearby 60,000-seater Emirates Stadium.
   ‘The seats are completely safe and are not a risk to health when located within a stadium, but it is understood that if the seats are stored inside and used regularly over a long period of time, there is a slight risk that very small amounts of cadmium could be released,’ Arsenal said in a statement on Wednesday.
   ‘Although being a very small risk we cannot sell any Highbury seats for individual domestic use.’
   Other items from the art deco-style stadium, where Arsenal had played for 93 years, being auctioned off include boardroom furniture, scoreboards, ceramic tiles and even hot dog cookers.

England head into the first Test against Sri Lanka without the injured quintet of skipper Michael Vaughan (knee), left-arm spinner Ashley Giles (hip/hernia) and pace bowlers Stephen Harmison (shin), Simon Jones (knee) and James Anderson (back).
   Up until recently, such a sick list would have been the cause for near-total gloom and despondency.
   But it is a measure of the renewed confidence coursing through English cricket following last year’s Ashes victory that the prevailing mood is instead one of bold optimism at the prospect of several fresh faces taking a bow at Lord’s for the opening match of a three-Test series.
   Indeed today’s toss England could be fielding as many as five players who are making their home Test debut in batsman Alastair Cook, left-arm spinner Monty Panesar and the pace bowling trio of Sajid Mahmood, Liam Plunkett and Jon Lewis.
   Of those Mahmood, the cousin of British boxer Amir Khan and a fairly lively performer in his own right, and Lewis have yet to play Test cricket anywhere and only experienced Gloucestershire seamer Lewis is the ‘wrong side’ of 30.

Bangladesh Football Federation on Wednesday selected 27 booters for the preliminary camp of SA Games scheduled to be held in Colombo in August this year. As many as 11 footballers got the nod for the first time to represent Bangladesh at the youth level tournament.
   It is for the second time the regional sporting extravaganza is holding the U-23 football And the Bangladesh squad bristles with both youth and experience.
   Coach Diego Andres Cruciani and trainer Victor Coleman will start the camp from May 15 at the BKSP. As the training sessions will be of long duration the players will be given two short-time vacations. At the end of June the preliminary team will be pruned down and the finally selected 22-player squad may go to Bangkok for a month-long intensive training.
   Siraji, Wali Faisal, Arman Aziz, Rintu, Zahed Parvez, Uzzal, Emily and Topu have the experience of playing international matches. Mithun, Maruf, Robin and Mishu have represented U-20 national team. Himel, Jahir, Ripon, Nasir, Faisal, Morshed, Robin and Kashem have got the national call-up for the first time.
   Bangladesh won the championship in the Nepal SAF Games 1999 but were ousted in the first round in the last edition in 2003 in Pakistan. From Colombo the regional games will be known as SA Games.
   Goalkeepers: Shakil (Arambagh) Tarek (Brothers Union), Himel (Badda Jagoroni).
   Defenders: Ariful (Youngmens), Sunny (Rahmatganj), Rony (Mohammedan), Kashem (Victoria), Zahir (Farashganj), Siraji (Brothers Union), Wali Faisal (Abahani), Ripon (Youngmens), Mishu (Sheikh Russell).
   Midfielders: Arman Aziz (Mohammedan), Rintu (Arambagh), Pappu (Muktijoddha), Zahed Parvez (Abahani), Uzzal (Abahani), Abdullah Parvez (Abahani), Zahid (Mohammedan), Nasir (Badda), Maruf (Sheikh Russell) Faisal (Arambagh).
   Strikers: Emily (Brothers Union), Topu (Brothers Union), Morshed (Arambagh), Robin (Youngmens) Mithun (Victoria).

Mokhlesur hammered the first ton on opening day of the Dhaka Bank National U-19 Cricket Tournament but it was not enough for Natore to avoid suffering a two-wicket defeat against Rajshahi at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium on Wednesday.
   Batting first, Natore piled a moderate 203-8 in 50 overs riding on Mokhlesur's 103 off 151 balls featuring 12 boundaries.
   Rajshahi reached the target scoring 204-8 in 47.4 overs as Arif hammered 65 and Talha hit 38.
   At the Barguna Stadium, a superb six-wicket haul from Piyer powered Barisal (121/3) to a convincing seven-wicket win over Bhola (118/10). Piyer captured six for 27.
   An unbeaten 41 from Johnny helped Munshiganj (157/7) thrash Dhaka (156/10) by three wickets at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium while Bandarban (137/5) registered an easy five-wicket win over Khagrachari (136/10) at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium.
   Gazipur (143/7) recorded a three-wicket victory over Mymensingh (137/10) at Faridpur Stadium while Noagaon (222/9) registered a slim one-wicket victory over Bogra at the Natore Stadium.

The Jamuna Bank Asian Games Hockey Qualifiers start today at the Maulana Bhashani National Stadium in a new format as the organisers reshuffled the fixture turning it into a league format due to the seven participant teams.
   Initially nine teams were divided into two groups but with the pull out of Tajikistan and Indonesia, the organising committee had to revert to a league format instead.
   Now all the teams play six matches and the top four go through to the finals at Doha, Qatar.
   Bangladesh will meet Chinese Taipei in the second match of the day at 4:00 pm and the official inauguration will take place on 3:00 pm. LGRD Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan will inaugurate the competition as the chief guest. However, Oman and Singapore will play the first match at 10:00 am.
   Till Wednesday four of the six foreign teams reached Dhaka.
   With Singapore scheduled to arrive late at night Hong Kong and Sri Lanka was scheduled to arrive on Thursday morning.
   Bangladesh has is eying the title and all the players are focused to perform their best. believed Jamal Haider, the coach of Bangladesh.
   ‘We are ready to face the hard challenges. The going will not be easy and playing six matches at the same level is my only expectation.’

Mamun Sharif of AG Academy slammed a hat-trick against Halsha High School at Pabna stadium to propel his team to a 4-0 victory in the banglalink tiger trophy National School Football Championship on Wednesday. Abed Ali netted the other goal for the winners.
   In the other match at the same venue, Mangalgram High School drew 1-1 with Maulanabad High School.
   At Sirajganj stadium, Gaberpara Senior Madrassah defeated Rashidpur Ijjatunnessa High School 3-2 to win the zonal championship.
   Yunus, Bari and Anwar scored on goal apiece for the winners while Milon and Nazrul scored one each for the losers.
   At Nilphamari stadium, Kanial Khata High School outplayed Bangladesh Railway CP High School 3-0 with Dipok, Jalmal and Tarapad Roy netting the goals.
   In the other match of the day, Gajghanta School and College beat Gobindaganj High School 2-1.
   Mahmudul Hasan and Nur Amin scored for the winners while Arman scored the consolation for the losers.
   At Fardipur stadium, Alfadanga AZ Pilot High School and Madaripur Public Institute played out a 1-1 draw with Hafiz scoring for Alfadanga and Rubel finding the net for Madaripur.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has decided to send pace bowler Shahadat Hossain in Dubai for the exhibition matches against a Pakistan XI, instead of injury-prone Masharfee bin Murtaza.
   Mashrafee was supposed to go to Dubai along with left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique for the matches, which were initially scheduled for May 11 and 13 before being deferred to May 18-19.
   The Bangladeshi duo will fly to the UAE on May 16.

The Bangl-adesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan will take on Parjoar Kalindi High School in the final of the Standard Char-tered You-ng Tigers National School Cricket Tournament at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium today.
   In Tuesday’s semi-finals, BKSP defeated Rajshahi Mashkata Dighi High School by 22 runs at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium while Kalindi High were declared winners against Chittagong Nasirabad Govt High School by virtue of a better run rate at the Jagannath Hall ground.
   Earlier, Parjoar Kalindi High became Dhaka zone champions beating BKSP by 44 runs on Friday.

Lack of pace and modest ability in the air are not normally qualities associated with a world-class defender. For Bobby Moore, shortcomings in those areas were an irrelevance.
   A phenomenal ability to read the game, a cool, reassuring presence under pressure and superb timing in the tackle made England’s 1966 World Cup-winning captain one of the finest defenders ever.
   ‘There should be a law against him,’ the late Scottish manager Jock Stein once said. ‘He knows what’s happening 20 minutes before anyone else.’
   Born in 1941, Moore joined West Ham as a schoolboy and made his debut for the London club as a 17-year-old soon afterwards.
   His natural ability soon had him marked down as international material, and he was handed his first cap just a few weeks before the 1962 World Cup finals. He impressed and earned a place in the squad for Chile.
   Moore played in all of England’s matches in that tournament, earning plaudits for a series of nerveless displays on the most demanding stage of all.
   After England’s exit in the quarter-finals, Moore returned and enjoyed a successful few seasons with West Ham, under the management of the shrewd Ron Greenwood.
   He won England’s Player of the Year award in 1964, as well as the FA Cup, followed by the European Cup Winners’ Cup the season afterwards.
   At the World Cup in 1966, Moore led England superbly and marshalled a defence which only conceded a goal for the first time during the 2-1 win over Portugal in the semi-finals.
   His inspirational performance in England’s 4-2 final victory over West Germany at Wembley also helped earn him the accolade of the tournament’s best player.
   It said everything about Moore’s nature that when he climbed the steps to receive the Jules Rimet Trophy from Queen Elizabeth, his chief preoccupation was making sure his hands were clean.
   ‘The Queen was wearing pristine white gloves. But my hands were caked in mud,’ Moore recalled later. ‘All I could think was that I couldn’t get those gloves dirty.’
   Moore returned for the 1970 Mexico World Cup, his third appearance at the finals.
   But his and England’s build-up to Mexico had been plunged into controversy shortly before the tournament, when Moore was arrested in Colombia for allegedly stealing a bracelet. He spent four days in a Bogota jail before being released. He was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing and always protested his innocence.
   There was no chance of the controversy affecting Moore’s performance at the World Cup. Though England were to lose in the quarter-finals, Moore’s contribution was considered to be his finest.
   The highlight was his performance in the 1-0 defeat to Brazil in Guadalajara.
   Moore later described the game as the best of his career, and a photograph of him swapping shirts with Pele in a gesture of mutual respect has become one of the abiding images from the 1970 finals.
   After Mexico, Moore represented England for a further three years, earning the last of his 108 caps - 90 as captain - in a 1-0 defeat against Italy at Wembley.
   He retired in 1976 after three seasons with Fulham. He later played in North America and had two unsuccessful forays into management with Southend and Oxford.
   Moore was diagnosed with cancer in 1991, and died two years later aged 51, sparking nationwide grief.
   — Agence France-Presse

Switzerland, neutral during the War, hosted the 1954 World Cup which saw West Germany back in the fold and the Ferenc Puskas-inspired Hungary, who had handed England a historic 6-3 defeat at Wembley prior to the finals, installed as strong favourites.
   The 1950 group format was abandoned, with a return to the group system followed by knockout quarter- and semi-finals.
   The Hungarians demolished a tactically-weakened German side 8-3 in the opening round, adding to a 9-0 demolition of South Korea.
   In the quarter-finals their match with Brazil turned ugly. The Battle of Berne, as the match was later labelled, saw two Brazilians and a Hungarian sent off and continued fighting in the dressing rooms after the match, which Hungary won 4-2.
   In the final they were to face West Germany again, surely a formality.
   It was not to be. Hungary were soon 2-0 ahead through Puskas and Zoltan Czibor and seemingly cruising to victory, but they reckoned without the determination of the West Germans who were level within ten minutes.
   The German winner came five minutes from the end when Helmut Rahn scored his second goal to clinch their first World Cup triumph.
   
   STARS
   Nandor Hidegkuti
   Hungary: b. 1922 d 2002
   Deep-lying centre-forward who played behind Puskas and Kocsis in the era of the Magic Magyars. Captured the world’s attention with three goals against England at Wembley in Hungary’s famous 6-3 win in 1953, and all-told scored 39 goals in 68 internationals.
   The high point of his career came when he was over 30 and was known as the Old Man because of his bald patch. He had been a contested choice when first capped in 1945 and it was only in 1952 that he won a regular place. He won a gold medal in the Helsinki Olympics and two years later was the brains in the Hungarian side that everyone expected to win the World Cup.
   Hidegkuti scored twice in the 8-3 group win over Germany, once in the shameful quarter-final against Brazil, despite having his shorts torn off in the process of shooting, and a brilliant diving header against Uruguay in a classic semi-final.
   Coached in Italy, Hungary and Poland when his playing days were over.
   
   Sandor Kocsis
   Hungary: b. 1929, d. 1979
   Prolific goal-scoring inside-forward of Hungary’s great 1950s side. Scored 75 goals in 68 internationals, including 11 in the 1954 World Cup.
   Imaginative, good with both feet but, above all, sensational in the air. Known as Golden Head, scored seven hat-tricks for Hungary, including four goals in the 1954 World Cup group game against Germany.
   Had to spearhead the attack when Puskas was injured in 1954 World Cup, scoring three against South Korea, four against Germany, two against Brazil in the infamous Battle of Berne quarter-final, and two headers in extra-time against Uruguay in the semi-finals.
   At the end of the Hungarian uprising in 1956 he was on Honved’s South American tour and like many of his team-mates decided not to return. He joined Young Fellows of Switzerland before moving to Barcelona where he played in the 1962 European Cup final they lost 3-2 to Benfica of Portugal, sharing the goals with his old Hungarian team-mate Zoltan Czibor.
   Modest and the most popular member of the great Hungrian side.
   
   Leading scorers
   Sandor Koscis (HUN) 11
   Max Morlock (GER) 6
   Josef Hugi (SWI) 6
   Erich Probst (AUT) 5
   Ferenc Puskas (HUN) 4
   Nandor Hidegkuti (HUN) 4
   Hans Schafer (GER) 4
   Ottmar Walter (GER) 4
   Helmut Rahn (GER) 4
   Carlos Borges (URU) 4
   Ernst Stojaspal (AUT) 4
   Robert Ballaman (SWI) 4
   
   TRIVIA
   l This was the first tournament to be televised.
   l Four groups of four teams was the playing format used and FIFA decided for the first time to seed the top two in each group. They were never to meet, therefore each country only played two matches instead of the normal three.
   l Scotland’s first World Cup game ended with a 1-0 defeat by Austria in Group Three.
   l Hungary registered the highest goals total in World Cup match when they beat South Korea 9-0 in Zurich. Sandor Kocsis scored three and later hit four goals in an 8-3 demolition of West Germany.
   l West Germany deliberately fielded a weaker team in the 8-3 group stages loss to Hungary, saving their strongest team for the play-off v Turkey. The plan obviously worked as they won 7-2.
   l Switzerland caused a sensation almost as great as England’s defeat against the USA four years earlier when they eliminated Italy 4-1 in Basle.
   l Hungary’s violent 4-2 quarter-final win over Brazil was the first time in the World Cup that both sides had scored from the penalty spot, Mihaly Lantos for Hungary and Djalma Santos for Brazil.
   l Before the final against West Germany, Hungary were unbeaten for four years.
   l West Germany recorded the highest goals tally for a winning team scoring 25 in their six matches. They also conceded the most 14, another record.
   l Top scorer was Kocsis of Hungary with 11, who became the first player to score over ten in the tournament.
   
   WINNING SQUAD
   West Germany
   Goalkeepers: Heinz Kwiatkowski, Anton Turek
   Defenders: Hans Bauer, Werner Kohlmeyer, Bernhard Klodt, Fritz Laband, Werner Liebrich, Karl Mai, Paul Mebus, Josef Posipal
   Midfielders: Horst Eckel, Maximilian Morlock, Alfred Pfaff, Fritz Walter (capt)
   Forwards: Richard Hermann, Helmut Rahn, Hans Schaeffer, Ottmar Walter
   Coach: Josef Herberger
   — Agence France-Presse

Two years before the inaugural World Cup in 1930, the newly drafted regulations stipulated that the winners should be rewarded with a new trophy, with French sculptor Abel Lafleur being assigned this prestigious task.
   The little trophy had a hazardous existence. The Italian Vice-President of FIFA, Dr Ottorino Barassi, hid it in a shoe-box under his bed throughout the Second World War and thus saved it from falling into the hands of occupying troops.
   Then in 1966, the cup disappeared while on display as part of the build-up to the World Cup in England and was only recovered, buried under a tree, by a little dog called Pickles.
   Finally, in 1983, it was stolen again, this time in Rio de Janeiro, and apparently melted down by the thieves. The Brazilian Football Association, who had earned the right to keep the trophy after having won it three times, ordered a replica to be made.
   The original trophy was 35cm high and weighed approximately 3.8 kg. The statuette was made of sterling silver and gold plated, with a blue base made of semi-precious stone (lapis lazuli).
   There was a gold plate on each of the four sides of the base, on which were engraved the name of the trophy as well as the names of the nine winners between 1930 and 1970.
   — Fifaworldcup.com