India’s cricket chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday ridiculed an unofficial competition carrying a prize of one million dollars, saying it would mainly feature players coming out of retirement.
   Pawar also warned that promising younger players would be ineligible for the Indian team if they played in the tournament, which is being bankrolled by Zee Telefilms, India’s largest listed media company.
   ‘I can’t see any threat from the ICL,’ Pawar said, referring to the new competition, the Indian Cricket League, by its initials.
   Pawar, a political heavyweight and the federal agriculture minister, was making his first public comments on the issue as he inaugurated a cricket facility in the western state of Gujarat.
   ‘Not many people are interested in watching retired players in action. Everyone wants to see official cricket, not the oldies,’ he said.
   The Board of Control for Cricket in India has refused to recognise the league, which has consequently struggled to lure players despite reports of big money offers.
   Most of the players linked to the competition are retired, semi-retired or unable to hold their place in the national side. The league would feature six teams playing in Twenty20 matches, a format viewed as a young man’s game.
   But Pawar warned: ‘Also, I see no reason for young players going there. Only those who play official cricket can represent India.’
   Each team will comprise four international players, two Indian stars and eight upcoming cricketers, according to an ICL announcement in May. Matches are to be played across India in October and November.
   Retired West Indian captain Brian Lara, Test cricket’s highest run-getter, is the only one to have been signed up as a player so far.
   Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, former stars of Australia’s national side, last week dismissed claims by ICL chairman Kapil Dev that they had already signed up. But they continue to be linked to the series.
   Reports have also linked former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq and retired New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns to secret negotiations with the league.
   The ICL, which carries a winner’s purse of one million dollars, is reminiscent of the World Cricket Series, which the late Australian TV mogul Kerry Packer launched to take on the cricket establishment in 1977.
   Packer roped in the world’s top players for the rebel series after being denied official TV rights by the Australian Cricket Board for matches played in that country.
   Similarly, Zee Telefilms was rebuffed by the BCCI in 2004 despite tabling the highest bid of 308 million dollars for Indian rights for a four-year period.
   Former England skipper Tony Greig, Dean Jones of Australia and ex-India wicket-keeper Kiran More are on the ICL’s organising committee under Dev, who captained India to its only World Cup title in 1983.
   Dev has signed up World Cup winning team-mates Sandeep Patil, Madan Lal and Balwinder Sandhu as coaches for three of the six proposed teams.
   The BCCI is due to meet on August 21 to decide, among other things, if Dev can continue to head its National Cricket Academy, which grooms promising youngsters.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis stepped up his battle with Ferrari by accusing them of using an illegal car to win this year’s Australian Grand Prix.
   Dennis is furious that Ferrari persuaded motor racing’s governing body, the FIA, to reconsider their decision not to punish McLaren for being in possession of confidential documents about the Italian team.
   A court of appeal due to sit later this month could now dock McLaren points and Dennis has hit back by sending an open letter to FIA president Max Mosley, and Luigi Macaluso, president of the Italian Automobile Federation.
   Dennis claims Ferrari’s sacked technical manager Nigel Stepney told him there were two design elements of the Ferrari car he believed to be in breach of FIA regulations.
   One, a rear-wing separator, was deemed legal, but the other, a ‘flexi’ floor, was proven to be illegal.
   Dennis is adamant Ferrari ran their cars with the illegal floor at Melbourne, where Kimi Raikkonen won the race for the Italians.
   In his letter, Dennis said: ‘Ferrari ran their cars with this illegal device at the Australian Grand Prix. McLaren chose not to protest the result even though it seems clear that Ferrari had an illegal advantage.
   ‘Were it not for Mr Stepney drawing this illegal device to the attention of McLaren, and McLaren drawing it to the attention of the FIA, there is every reason to suppose Ferrari would have continued racing with an illegal car.’

England coach Peter Moores has revealed he is considering asking for the volume on stump microphones to be turned down so his side’s ‘sledging’ of India batsmen is no longer heard by television viewers.
   During the ongoing Test series, which the tourists lead 1-0 heading into next week’s third and final match at The Oval, fans tuning in to host broadcaster Sky’s commentary have been able to hear the likes of England wicket-keeper Matt Prior trying to unsettle opposition batsmen.
   But there are concerns that matters got particularly out of hand during India’s seven-wicket second Test win here at Trent Bridge completed on Tuesday.
   During the match India’s Zaheer Khan was angered by the bizarre sight of jelly beans being left on the crease while he batted.
   If it was a ploy to unsettle Khan, it backfired spectacularly with the left-arm quick’s match haul of nine for 134 his best in Tests.
   It was also noticeable how England fast bowler Chris Tremlett unsettled India by taking three wickets on Tuesday without the need for any verbal abuse.
   However, England captain Michael Vaughan insisted the team’s sledging policy was nothing more than gamesmanship and that his players had ‘not said anything untoward’. Nevertheless Moores is concerned about the impression being created and may ask Sky, via match referee Ranjan Madugalle, to turn down the volume.
   ‘There have to be some things which are left on the field to be fair to the players so they can actually go and play the game without worrying that everything they do and say is going straight into someone’s lounge.
   ‘It’s something we’ve discussed as a management team and we’ll speak with the match referee.’
   Regulations drawn up by the International Cricket Council impose restrictions on when broadcasters can and cannot use stump microphones.

South Africa have asked the Pakistan Cricket Board to revise their tour programme, which includes two Tests and five one-day internationals, due to the security situation in Pakistan.
   Pakistan Cricket Board sources told Reuters on Thursday that South Africa had expressed concerns over playing in Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
   ‘They have asked for a revision in the itinerary including a second look at the venues. They are not comfortable with Peshawar,’ said one PCB source.
   The NWFP province, which borders Afghanistan, has seen several explosions and suicide bomb attacks on security forces in the last few days after the government stormed the Red Mosque in Islamabad to flush out suspected Islamic militants.
   More than 200 people, mostly policemen and soldiers, have been killed in bomb and suicide attacks across Pakistan since the army assault on the Mosque last month.
   South Africa’s tour is due to start on September 27 with the Tests scheduled for Karachi and Lahore while the one-dayers are in Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Multan and Faisalabad.
   ‘The venues will revised in the next two weeks as we are having discussions with them (South Africa),’ the source said.
   ‘But they are satisfied with the overall security arrangements we are making for their tour. They have confidence in our ability to handle things,’ he added.
   He added that he did not expect South Africa to refuse to play the first Test in the southern port city of Karachi.
   In 2003, South Africa refused to play in Karachi and Peshawar for security reasons.
   Pakistan is also due to host the Australia A team from September 1 and the source said the PCB was concerned another major security incident could derail the tour.
   ‘Cricket Australia at this stage is committed to go ahead with their tour. But we fear one more incident could lead to a rethink on their part,’ the source said.

Three new national records were established on the opening day of the Keya Cosmetics 23rd National Age Group Swimming Championships that began at the National Swimming Complex in Mirpur on Thursday.
   In the 200-metre breaststroke (boys’ 13-14 years), Jewel Ahmed clinched the gold bettering the previous mark of 02:54.41 minutes. Ismail Hossain and Kawsar Hossain of
   BKSP won the silver and bronze respectively.
   In the 200m individual medley (boys’ 10 years), Mohammad Faisal Ahmed won the gold in 02:59.02 minutes eclipsing the previous record of 03:02.18 minutes. Mohammad Ponir Hossain of Bangladesh Ansar grabbed silver while Alauddin Titas of Nawabganj Swimming Club (Rajshahi) got the bronze.
   Nazma Khatun bagged gold in the 200m individual medley (girls’ 10 years) with a time of 03:21.76 minutes to better the previous timing of 03:29.28 minutes. Naima Akhter Sonali of BKSP claimed silver while Rumpa Khatun (Alamgir Swimming Club, Rajshahi) took the bronze.
   After the day’s 25 events, Bangladesh Ansar topped the medal table securing 14 gold, nine silver and three bronze. BKSP are in second place with seven gold, 13 silver and three bronze while Alamgir Swimming Club of Rajshahi are third grabbing four gold, two silver and six bronze.
   National Sports Council secretary M Aminul Islam Khan inaugurated the three-day meet as the chief guest.

Bangladesh cricket captain Mohammad Ashraful is excited at the prospect of having military training as planned by the newly-appointed interim committee of the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
   The new committee in their first meeting on Wednesday decided to put the national cricketers on strict military regimen before they leave for South Africa to play Twenty20 World Cup in September.
   ‘It will be a very good experience for us. We need a change and I hope the military training will give us that change. It will help us gain physical strength and mental toughness,’ Ashraful told New Age on Thursday.
   Sources said the BCB president Major General Sina Ibn Jamali himself had proposed to impart military training to the national squad at the meeting and the other members readily agreed. The training will be held in Sylhet from August 11, two days after the announcement of the Twenty20 World Cup squad.
   However, the BCB has planned to send coach Shaun Williams and physio Azmal Hossain Mithu to Sylhet earlier to make the necessary arrangements for the training, said the sources.
   ‘Military training is not a new phenomenon for international cricketers. India, Pakistan and Australia teams have endured it previously. So I don’t see any problem for us to take it,’ said Ashraful.

The president of the Bangladesh Olympic Association General Moeen U Ahmed gave a green signal to the proposed training budget of Tk 79 crore for the upcoming SA Games and Indo-Bangla Games.
   In an executive committee meeting held at the BOA office, the president said he would be conveying the requirement to the chief adviser and hopes to receive it in due time.
   The BOA chief also took an initiative to collect funds for the flood-affected people and urged all the affiliated federations and the BOA to collect money that would be presented to the chief adviser’s relief fund on Sunday.
   The designation of Col (retd) M Waliullah was changed to chief executive officer from chief operating officer in the meeting.

The Bank Alfalah Cricfile, sports magazine, starts its journey in Channel i at 2:30 pm today.
   The programme will focus on the history and provide the information on Bangladesh cricket in 26 episodes. Former national cricket skipper Roqibul Hasan will anchor the show.

Matthew Hoggard is likely to miss the third Test against India, as he is aiming to play in Yorkshire’s County Championship match against Lancashire, starting on August 9 - the day the third Test commences at The Oval.
   Hoggard, who missed the first two Tests due to a back spasm, does not have an opportunity to prove his fitness in a county game before the Oval Test.
   ‘If everything goes to plan, Matthew [Hoggard] will play league cricket on Saturday and then for Yorkshire against Lancashire next week,’ Scott McAllister, Yorkshire’s physiotherapist, told the Yorkshire Post.

A celebration thrown by the ruler of Dubai for the Iraqi soccer team after their Asian Cup win was marred when Iraq’s Saddam Hussein-era national anthem was played, angering many players and prompting some to walk away.
   Confetti rained down as the players arrived late on Tuesday at the Dubai airport where thousands of cheering fans gathered to welcome the team and celebrate the victory.
   But some players and members of the Iraqi delegation walked out in protest when the organisers put on Saddam’s anthem instead of the country’s new one, according to Bassam al-Husseini, a representative of Iraq’s prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, who flew with the team.
   An Emirati royal family jet had whisked the Iraqis from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, where they beat Saudi Arabia 1-0, to Dubai instead of their war-torn country, in a grand gesture by Dubai’s leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.
   Team officials protested to Emirates officials over the Saddam anthem and ‘they later apologised,’ Najeh Hamoud, from the Iraqi soccer federation, told US-funded Radio Sawa which broadcasts in Arabic in the Middle East.
   He added that the mistake was apparently made by a technician who did not know about a new anthem.
   After Saddam’s overthrow, new Iraqi authorities selected ‘Mawtini,’ a folk tune popular throughout the Arab world, to replace the old anthem which glorified Saddam’s Baath party.

Maria Sharapova made a formidable start to the summer hardcourt season, the US Open champion crushing Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1, 6-3 in the second round of the San Diego Classic Wednesday.
   The Florida-based Russian world number two launched her title defence with apparent ease as she returned to competition for the first time since falling in the fourth round at Wimbledon to eventual champion Venus Williams.
   ‘I feel good, I did all the right things,’ Sharapova said. ‘I’m moving well. But you never know how you are until you play a match. Things are going well.
   The two-time grand slam champion showed no sign of discomfort from the lingering shoulder worry which required a pain-killing injection in the spring.
   ‘My shoulder doesn’t hurt - but I’m not at 100 per cent either, But I’ve been talking about it for so long that I feel I’m repeating myself.
   ‘I just want to go out and play tennis,’ she said. ‘It’s not getting worse and I know it will eventually get better.’
   Sharapova skipped Russia’s Fed Cup tie last month against the United States amid harsh home criticism, saying she needed to rest her injury.
   The 20-year-old, who lifted the 2006 title here without the loss of a set, beating Kim Clijsters in the final, made a perfect start to her defence and led a string of Russians into the third round.
   Three other seeded Russians and world number 42 Maria Kirilenko all advanced in straight sets.
   Third seed Anna Chakvetadze extended her summer win streak to 10 matches, crushing Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4, 6-4.
   Chakvetadze, ranked sixth, had polished her finals record to six-for-six with last weekend’s triumph in Stanford over India’s tennis princess Sania Mirza.
   Number eight Dinara Safina eliminated Camille Pin of France 6-1, 6-4 and ninth seed Elena Dementieva stopped German Angelique Kerber 6- 1, 6-2.
   Kirilenko upset Czech 16th seed Lucie Safarova 6-4, 7-6.
   Tenth-seeded Wimbledon champion Venus Williams was untroubled in a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano, with the American committing 41 unforced errors against 30 winners.
   Williams won this tournament in 2000, 2001 and 2002, but is making her first appearance after a five-year absence.
   Her last defeat in this event came in 1999, when she lost the final to Martina Hingis, this year’s seventh seed.
   ‘I played well, I had some errors, but I was aggressive,’ Williams said. ‘She played her best tennis and didn’t give me any free points.
   ‘I’m relaxed and confident, if I’m down a break I know I can do whatever it takes to break back.
   ‘I think I’m playing better than at Wimbledon. My game is improving with every match that I’ve played.’
   Chakvetadze will next face former tournament giant killer Ai Sugiyama, who continued her habit of knocking out seeds with a 6-2, 7-6 victory over number 15 Austrian Sybille Bammer.
   In 2005, Sugiyama beat Daniela Hantuchova and reigning US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova before losing the final here to France’s Mary Pierce.
   Slovakia’s Hantuchova, seeded sixth, advanced with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus.

From the moment he arrived at Manchester City last month, Sven-Goran Eriksson has carefully steered clear of making predictions on how his new side will perform next season.
   And for good reason.
   There is a good deal of optimism sweeping around Eastlands and the Swede knows he must limit the growing expectations among the blue half of Manchester.
   Despite major question marks being raised about Thaksin Shinawatra’s suitability as an owner, concerns about his human rights record during his time as Prime-minister of Thailand are all external and will be a long way down the list of conversation topics in Manchester’s pubs.
   Thaksin is realistic.
   ‘I would like to see City in the top six. It will not happen overnight.
   ‘Especially this season, it’s a bit too late for us to do much but I think this year will be better than last year.
   ‘Within three seasons you will see a big change at City.’
   So far Thaksin has been good to his word on transfer funds, making plenty of cash available for a raft of new signings as Eriksson begins re-building what had become a stale and sub-standard squad under Stuart Pearce.
   Eriksson has not held back, with 8.8 million pounds going on Reggina forward Roland Bianchi and another 4.7 million pounds on Atletico Madrid winger Martin Petrov and Brazilian Geovanni and Swiss youngster Gelson Fernandes.
   The speed and efficiency of Eriksson’s business is already making him look like a much better appointment than former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri, who was initially Thaksin’s first choice for the job before choosing Juventus.
   The 59-year-old is unlikely to have another job in football after this one and, regardless of his public defiance, will be keen to rebuild his reputation, which suffered a hammering during his reign as England manager.
   What Eriksson’s new men all have in common is a lack of Premiership experience which should mean they will take time to settle.
   While Eriksson insists he is doing the right thing by bringing down the average age of his first-team, it can also be argued that he is bringing in inexperienced players.
   That is not to say his signings are without pedigree.
   Bianchi hit 18 goals in Serie A with Reggina last season, a division notorious for tight defences.
   The pulling power of the Premiership is without question but, while players have flocked to England from all over the world, Italian success stories - other than the irrepressible Gianfranco Zola - are few and far between, particularly expensive strikers.
   Petrov boasts more than 60 international appearances for Bulgaria, Geovanni once cost Barcelona 11 million pounds and Eriksson has described Fernandes as the best player in Switzerland.
   There will be plenty more to follow before the end of August but this transitional season will not be judged solely on City’s final position.
   In these upbeat times, it is easy to forget how low City sunk last season. They may have finished 14th but managed just 10 goals in their 19 home league matches and ended four points above the drop zone.
   Eriksson currently finds himself in a similar position to Martin O’Neill at Aston Villa a year ago and he will be afforded plenty of patience.
   Although Villa had a good start to last season only to tail off badly, O’Neill’s first campaign in charge is viewed as a success and Eriksson’s debut in the Premiership is likely to follow a similar pattern.
   Fans will be satisfied if shoots of recovery are regularly evident and the Swede’s ability to charm the press pack will also buy him plenty of time as would a favourable result against United in City’s third league match of the season.
   The fact that it took so much of the summer for Thaksin and Eriksson to arrive will not be forgotten and City can not fail to give their fans more joy at home than they had last season.

Bayern Munich went on a 70 million euro spending spree after their humiliating fourth-placed finish in the Bundesliga last season and are eager to avenge their failure to win silverware by grabbing all four titles this time.
   Throwing away their traditional frugality, Bayern acquired France’s Franck Ribery, Italy’s Luca Toni, Turkey’s Hamit Altintop, Argentine Jose Ernesto Sosa along with Germans Miroslav Klose, Marcell Jansen and Jan Schlaudraff.
   ‘We want to win every competition we’re in,’ said coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, whose new-look team won their first prize on Saturday by lifting the traditional season-opening tournament, the League Cup.
   ‘Bayern had a difficult season and it’s up to us to turn it around.’
   The 20-times German champions took the League Cup especially seriously, thrashing the three Champions League-bound teams that finished ahead of them by a combined 7-1 goal tally: champions VfB Stuttgart (2-0), Schalke 04 (1-0) and Werder Bremen (4-1).
   They want to reclaim the Bundesliga crown from last season’s surprise package Stuttgart and have spoken brazenly about also winning the UEFA Cup and the German Cup.
   Keeping so many internationals happy, including Germany’s Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger, will be no easy task for Hitzfeld, especially because Ribery and Toni speak almost no German—once a tacit requirement to play for Bayern.
   ‘We’ve got some integration difficulties to master, such as language barriers,’ he said. ‘We’ve got unknowns to sort out.’
   Stuttgart, Schalke and Werder Bremen are expected to be the main challengers to Bayern with some oddsmakers tipping a steadily improving Bayer Leverkusen and a rejuvenated Hamburg SV as teams also in contention.
   However, Werder were weakened by the forced sale of Klose to Bayern and a pre-season injury to captain Torsten Frings while Schalke are struggling after selling Brazilian playmaker Lincoln to Galatasaray and losing Altintop to Bayern.
   Stuttgart, for their part, lost Germany reserve goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand to Valencia. Their main addition is Turkey midfielder Yildiray Basturk from Hertha Berlin.
   It is uncertain how the title-holders, who shot from ninth to first last season, will cope with the dual burdens of the Bundesliga and a first Champions League campaign in four years with only a marginally improved team.
   Stuttgart had an amazing eight-match winning streak at the end of last term to rally from third to first. However, after heavy celebrations, they were beaten and clearly outplayed by Nuremberg in the German Cup final a week later.
   Even Stuttgart are referring to Bayern as the favourites.
   ‘We need more motivation,’ coach Armin Veh said, confirming media reports that his team might have lost their edge. ‘Everyone’s got their problems but we’ve got to be motivated.’
   At the bottom of the
   table, where eight clubs spent much of last season battling relegation, another tense fight is expected.
   Arminia Bielefeld, Energie Cottbus, Eintracht Frankfurt, VfL Wolfsburg as well as promoted Karlsruhe SC, Hansa Rostock, and MSV Duisburg have set their top goal as avoiding relegation.

Sven Goran Eriksson’s Manchester City revolution gathered pace as he made Brazil winger Elano his third signing in a matter of hours on Thursday.
   Elano arrived from Shakhtar Donetsk for eight million pounds on a busy day for Eriksson, who had already swooped for Real Sociedad’s Javier Garrido and Dinamo Zagreb’s Vedran Corluka.
   The Brazilian, who played a key role in his country’s Copa America victory last month, agreed a four-year contract just hours after Eriksson paid 1.5 million pounds for Spain Under-21 defender Garrido, who signed a four-year contract.
   Eriksson also added Corluka for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around seven million pounds, with the Croatia defender signing a five-year contract.
   The former England coach had already signed Rolando Bianchi, Martin Petrov, Gelson Fernandes and Geovanni since arriving at Eastlands last month and he isn’t finished spending yet.
   Fiorentina striker Valeri Bojinov is next on his shopping list and the Bulgarian is believed to be in England to complete a six-million-pound move from the Serie A club.
   Eriksson’s spree has been bankrolled by City’s new Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra and has made them one of the Premiership’s biggest spenders during the close season.
   City chief executive Alistair Mackintosh said: ‘This morning has proved to be an immensely productive one, the outcome of which is the acquisition of three top quality players for Manchester City.
   ‘This has been achieved as a result of some tremendous team work and I would like to praise everyone involved for their efforts. I would particularly like to thank Dr Thaksin, without whom today’s signings would not have been possible.’
   Meanwhile, new Manchester City owner and former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will lay on a slice of his homeland at Saturday’s friendly against Spain’s Valencia, with chart-topping singers and authentic eastern cuisine.
   Thaksin’s Bangkok-based lawyer Noppadon Pattama said 20-year-old Thai R&B singer Saranrat Wisutthithada, who goes under the stage name Lydia, would serenade the Sky Blues faithful during the pre-season clash.
   The club’s board and players would also be served two signature Thai dishes at a post-match reception: Pad Thai, a fried noodle combination, and Tom Yam Kung, a spicy prawn soup.
   ‘They will have first-hand experience of the delicious taste of Thai food,’ Noppadon told a news conference.
   Noppadon also countered allegations by New York-based Human Rights Watch that Thaksin was unfit to own an English soccer club because of ‘serious human rights abuses’ committed during a 2003 ‘war on drugs’ under his leadership.
   ‘There has never been a proper probe,’ Noppadon said. ‘His Excellency has never ordered any official to kill anyone.’ At least 2,500 people were killed in the three-month anti-drugs crackdown, although police said the vast majority were drug dealers shot by other drug dealers.
   Human rights groups disagreed, saying many victims were shot in the back after reporting to police stations to try to get their names removed from drugs blacklists.
   Noppadon also played down accusations by an anti-graft body set up after the September coup that Thaksin, a telecoms tycoon before entering politics, may have bought Manchester City with money he stashed away while becoming ‘unusually rich’ in office.
   ‘Mr. Thaksin is rich and has accumulated his wealth in a usual manner,’ Noppadon said.

Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton has been charged with assault after a training ground row with former team-mate Ousmane Dabo.
   Barton, 24, allegedly attacked Dabo at the end of last season when he was still a Manchester City player.
   The England international, who moved to St James’ Park in a 5.8-million-pound deal this close-season, was formally charged with assault by police after answering bail in Manchester on Thursday.
   He will appear at Trafford Magistrates’ Court next Thursday. If Barton pleads not guilty and the case go to trial, it can be heard either at magistrates court or in front of a jury at crown court.
   The offence is believed to carry a maximum sentence of up to five years in jail on conviction.
   Barton denies the charges and a spokeswoman for the player said: ‘Our client, Joey Barton, was today charged under the Offences against the Person Act in relation to a training ground incident which occurred on May 1 this year. ‘Joey strenuously denies the charge and welcomes the opportunity to clear his name in the public forum.’
   Barton had been arrested in May following the incident, which led to his suspension by City, and was bailed until Thursday while police made further inquiries. He is likely to miss the start of the Premiership season after fracturing a metatarsal bone in his left foot in a pre-season friendly.

Valencia fullback Asier del Horno, who was left out of his side’s pre-season training camp in the Netherlands last month, on Wednesday trained with the rest of the squad, Spanish media reported.
   Valencia coach Quique Sanchez Flores had said at the start of the pre-season that he was keen to offload Del Horno, who was signed from Chelsea a year ago for 7.5 million euros (10.3 million US dollars) on a six-year contract.
   But the 26-year-old player had reportedly refused to leave the Spanish side if he was offered less than the 1.8 million euros per season he earns at present and Valencia was not able to find him a new club.
   ‘Little is known about the reasons that have led Quique to readmit Del Horno but what is clear is that his exit from the club is very difficult because of his high cost,’ the online edition of daily El Mundo wrote. The Valencia coach has only one other left-back at his disposal, Italy’s Emiliano Moretti, the paper added. Del Horno played in just six ‘Liga’ matches last season, due to a recurrent ankle injury which forced him to withdraw from Spain’s 23-man team at the 2006 World Cup in Germany which was won by Italy.

Dutch football club Ajax is keen on developing a youth programme in Malaysia, an executive said Thursday.
   Jonathan Price, chairman of Britain’s Gifted Group Limited (GGL), which manages major European tournaments, said Ajax presented a proposal recently to Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Ministry.
   ‘Ajax’s youth academy is well known worldwide and their youth development has produced top football legends, among them Johan Cruyff, Marco Van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Dennis Bergkamp,’ Price said in a statement.
   Price said Ajax’s Malaysian programme would involve youth at the state and club levels.
   He was in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the inaugural Champions Youth Cup, which GGL is organising.
   The junior tournament from August 8 to 19 will feature youth teams from the world’s top clubs including Manchester United, Chelsea and AC Milan. British club Arsenal already runs a soccer school in Malaysia and Germany’s Bayern Munich previously hosted a youth development programme.

Milan are facing a striker shortage for the Moscow tournament, which begins today, due to a glut of injuries. The Rossoneri are in the Russian capital to face Lokomotiv Moscow, PSV Eindhoven and Real Madrid in a competition to celebrate 170 years of Soviet Railways.
   Gabonese youth product Willy Aubameyang may be handed a start as Ronaldo, Pippo Inzaghi and Alberto Gilardino are all sidelined with injury problems. Ronaldo pulled a hamstring kicking a ball in training, Inzaghi is nursing a sore left thigh and Gila is still recovering from knee surgery.

Chelsea captain John Terry faces a race against time to be fit for Sunday’s Community Shield clash against Manchester United.
   Terry missed Tuesday’s friendly win against Brondby after breaking a toe at Rangers last weekend and is a serious doubt to face the Premiership champions.
   The England defender may take a painkiller to feature at Wembley but his potential absence is a further blow to Jose Mourinho, who was forced to leave 10 injured players at home for the Brondby match.
   Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Ballack, Arjen Robben, Wayne Bridge are all expected to miss Sunday’s match, while Michael Essien, Claude Makelele, Paulo Ferreira, Lassana Diarra and Salomon Kalou are carrying knocks. To add to Mourinho’s woes, John Obi Mikel came off in Copenhagen with a muscle problem, although he should be available to face United.
   Mourinho’s attempts to fine-tune his plans for the new Premiership campaign, which starts in less than two weeks, will undoubtedly have been affected by the growing injury list.
   The London club hope Brazil defender Alex will be available to give Mourinho another option shorty. Chelsea have appealed the British Home Office decision not to grant Alex a work permit and will present their case on Thursday.
   Alex returned to Brazil after losing patience with the immigration officials, even though he could actually have entered the country.
   He has already been booked on a flight back to Heathrow this weekend in anticipation of getting the green light to play for the Blues.

Jose Mourinho knows he must deliver the Champions League to satisfy his Chelsea bosses after chief executive Peter Kenyon outlined the club’s grand ambitions.
   Mourinho has won two Premiership titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups during his three-year reign at Stamford Bridge, but even that impressive haul is not enough to totally satisfy billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.
   The Champions League remains the holy grail for the Blues’ hierarchy and Kenyon admitted success in Europe’s elite competition was essential to their plans to become the world’s biggest club.
   ‘I think it (the European Cup) is one of the hardest trophies to pick up and to fulfil our ambitions as a world club you have to win the Champions League,’ Kenyon told The Times.
   ‘It doesn’t all rest on that this season, that’s not what it’s about, but what we’ve said is you have to win trophies on a regular basis.
   ‘You have to win the Premier League and Champions League more than once to reach those heights of being truly recognised as a world club and we’re well equipped.’
   Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack were signed last year to aid Chelsea’s attempt to conquer Europe, but neither player lived up to their illustrious reputation.
   Shevchenko has been linked with a move back to AC Milan, while Ballack has attracted interest from Real Madrid.
   But Kenyon insists they will stay because the best is still to come from both.
   ‘On the Andriy and Michael situation, we signed them for four years and we’ve definitely got the best to come from those two players, which is great news,’ he said.
   After a tumultuous campaign that was scarred by Mourinho’s clashes with Abramovich over transfer policy, Kenyon is confident peace has broken out in the corridors of power.
   He added, ‘I think it’s critically important Jose’s still here and I think it comes off a season when we got to a stage where nobody thought that Jose would be here apart from the people inside the club.’

Boosted by multi-million pound foreign takeovers and record television deals, England’s leading football teams are splashing the cash on new players ahead of the forthcoming Premiership season.
   Liverpool, who finished third last season, believe they can win their first league title for 18 years after paying a record 20 million pounds (30 million euros, 41 million dollars) for Spain striker Fernando Torres from Atletico Madrid.
   The Reds, who were taken over towards the end of last season by American tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks, have also spent 11.5 million pounds to secure the services of Dutch forward Ryan Babel from Ajax.
   The money-is-no-object approach of Liverpool and their Premiership rivals shows no sign of changing, according to a leading sports finance expert.
   ‘I think this is going to be the biggest transfer window we have ever seen,’ Dan Jones of Deloitte Touche told AFP.
   ‘It’s not massively surprising because you’ve got a number of new owners looking to reshape things and you’ve got the new TV money coming in.’
   In June, Manchester City became the eighth current Premiership club to be taken over by foreign investors.
   Aston Villa, Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Portsmouth and West Ham are also owned by foreign businessmen.
   Premiership clubs are being bought at a time when the income of each of the league’s 20 teams is set to soar following a recent record-busting overseas television rights deal.
   Booming demand from Asia and the Middle East has allowed the league to tie up contracts worth 625 million pounds for broadcasting rights for the next three seasons, boosting overall media income to 2.725 billion pounds, 60 per cent above previous levels.
   Thailand’s ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra earlier this summer paid 81.6 million pounds for Manchester City. He quickly installed former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson as City’s new coach, who in turn has spent 13.5 million pounds on buying foreign players Rolando Bianchi and Martin Petrov.
   City’s neighbours United - winners of the Premiership last season - have spent 50 million pounds during the summer transfer window on Owen Hargreaves, Anderson and Nani.
   The Premiership was the most profitable league in world football last season, with revenues of more than 1.4 billion pounds in 2006/07, according to Deloitte.
   Other Premiership clubs who have had major investments this close-season are Newcastle - bought by British tycoon Mike Ashley - as well as Arsenal and Birmingham.
   American billionaire Stan Kroenke purchased 12 percent of London side Arsenal, while Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung grabbed a third of Birmingham, who won promotion to the elite division last season.
   Arsenal’s coffers have also been filled by the sale of Thierry Henry to Barcelona for 16.1 million pounds, of which 14 million has been used to sign Croatia striker Eduardo da Silva and French defender Bacary Sagna.
   Chelsea, who in recent years have easily been the Premiership’s biggest spenders, have paid out a relatively modest 13 million pounds on Lyon winger Florent Malouda.
   Their other major signings - Claudio Pizarro, Steve Sidwell and Tal Ben Haim - have been free transfers. However the Blues have also handed England captain John Terry a new five-year contract, reported to be worth a record 135,000 pounds a week as the spending goes on.

Argentine football legend Diego Armando Maradona affirmed that AFA president Julio Grondona ‘had promised’ him the coaching job of the Argentine national team after the 2006 World Cup.
   Maradona was disappointed by the fact that Grondona didn’t keep his promise, and changed his mind when he selected Alfio Basile as the national team’s manager instead.
   ‘I already had 22 lions ready to play against Brazil at the Maracana. But because of that, I will look for the glory in another place’, he said.
   The 1986 World Cup winner, who played his club football for the likes of Napoli, Boca Juniors, and Barcelona, continued ‘maybe I will never coach the national team’.
   Maradona, who made some public appearances at the Copa America in Venezuela, also spoke out about Argentina’s embarrassing 3-0 defeat against rivals Brazil in the final of the tournament last month.
   ‘We can beat Brazil playing our own way, but only if we concentrate more than usual’.
   When asked about why Argentina lost the match he said ‘it happened because of our players. It happens because we give the players other responsibilities. We have to take away the big contracts each one of them has when they play a competition’.
   Maradona went on to praise former national team manager Marcelo Bielsa because when he was in-charge of the national team the matches against Brazil ‘were more even’.
   According to the Argentine media Maradona is the favourite to succeed Alfio Basile as the manager of the national team, but if he replaces him it is likely to be sometime after the 2010 World Cup.

World Cup-winning striker Rudi Voller has said England’s lack of success in international competition was down to an overcrowded domestic calendar.
   Voller, who starred in the German team that won the World Cup in 1990 and finished runners-up in 1986, won 90 caps for Germany and went on to coach the national team for four years, during which time it lost to Brazil in the final of the 2002 edition.
   Calendars, Voller claimed, should include space for international breaks, but he admitted that this would not be possible unless governing bodies start evening out the numbers of teams in leagues across Europe.
   ‘For the players in teams participating in the Champions League, UEFA Cup, and internationals there are definitely too many matches and several competitions are extended unnecessarily. This shouldn’t be the case,’ Voller told football debate website www.feelfootball.com.
   ‘The solution is to cut the number of clubs in the leagues down to 18. You can only create a structured calendar with a break when there are fewer matches and this is difficult for some leagues because they have too many matches.’
   Voller believes English clubs have the hardest time – and suggested the Premiership will need to reduce to 18 clubs if the national side is to have any hope of being successful on the world stage.
   ‘In Germany there are 18 clubs in the Premier League and in England, there are 20. The Cup games are also different in Germany – we play first leg only, whereas there are first and second leg games in England.
   ‘This increases the competition unnecessarily and there are too many matches for the players participating in international competitions. This is one reason why the English national team is not so prominent in many world championships.’
   Voller’s remarks were echoed by Barcelona’s Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o, who called for something to be done to help prevent clashes between club and international matches that are often seen in the African Cup.
   ‘I feel it is crucial to create a calendar in which nobody is penalised. Maybe they could plan it as in the European Championship which is played parallel to the Cup,’ said Eto’o, speaking as part of the pan-European football survey run on www.feelfootball.com.
   ‘It is important though to mention that our role is not to plan but to play. It is not our task to bring solutions to these issues. I just feel that planning should be done in such a way that nobody is penalised.’

Real Madrid, still not satisfied with their squad for the new season, may chase up the man being touted as the ‘new’ Zinedine Zidane, Marseille’s Samir Nasri, if they fail to net AC Milan’s Kaka, media reports said Thursday.
   Argentine Lucho Gonzalez of Porto has also taken Real’s fancy but 20-year-old French international Nasri is their prime target, according to AS and Marca.
   German coach Bernd Schuster is tracking the ‘new pearl of European football’ in the words of AS. Nasri, French young player of the year, has nonetheless indicated he plans to stay at the Stade Velodrome for this season at least and his contract with Marseille runs to 2009. Marca added that Lucho, 26, is also in the frame with a 25-million-euro price tag attached, although Lyon and Valencia are also after him.

50 ‘Football is all right as a game for rough girls but is hardly suitable for delicate boys.’
   Oscar Wilde makes a fair comment - years before anyone started diving to win free kicks
   49 ‘They finally found one.’
   Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards insults himself when asked how a brain scan after a ski jumping accident had gone.
   48 ‘Hijo de puta.’
   Early in his career with Real Madrid, David Beckham gets into trouble for calling a linesman a son of a whore in Spanish and receives a red card. Beckham later said (in English): ‘I didn’t realise what I had said was that bad. I had heard a few of my team-mates say the same before me.’
    47 ‘I would like to thank the press from the heart of my bottom.’
   Nick Faldo thought he was being funny after winning the 1992 Open, but he just looked like a pillock in Pringle.
   46 ‘I’m not as nice as all that. In fact, I swore only last week.’
   Gary Lineker is not above self-mockery.
   45 ‘Well bowled Harold.’
   Douglas Jardine congratulates Harold Larwood, his fast bowler, after he hit Bill Woodfull, the Australia captain, over the heart during the infamous Bodyline series in 1932.
   44 ‘Alan Shearer, he’s boring isn’t he? We call him Mary Poppins.’
   Freddy Shepherd, the chairman of Newcastle United, doesn’t sound too convinced of the worth of a man he had paid £15 million to sign.
   43 ‘Four more years, boys.’
   A cutting comment from George Gregan, the Australia rugby captain, near the end of their semi-final win over the All Blacks in the 2003 World Cup as New Zealand head for yet another defeat in the global tournament.
   42 ‘[American] Football combines the two worst features of American life: it is violence punctuated by committee meetings.’
   George Will, the American journalist, sums up their national game.
   41 ‘I don’t think heading a ball has got anything to do with it, footballers are stupid enough anyway.’
   A Premier League spokesman in 1995 comments on a report that brain cells are damaged by heading balls.
   40 ‘Mr Agnew, I believe you have a slight swing in your flaw.’
   Jimmy Demaret, the American golfer who won the Masters three times, to his playing partner, the American vice-president Spiro T Agnew.
   (to be continued)

Some say that Arsenal’s obsession with beauty will damage their chances of winning the Barclays Premier League. Robin van Persie says that it is the reason why he is at the club.
   ‘I would never give that up,’ the forward said. ‘Only a few teams in Europe play the way Arsenal play. Personally, I will always go for a team where I would, for example, earn less money but the team plays fantastic, rather than go to a team where you can earn lots of money and win every week, 1-0, 2-0, and play a defensive style.’
   Chelsea, who usurped Arsenal’s primacy in the capital, are never far from Arsenal’s thoughts, so it would not be a stretch to suggest that Jose Mourinho’s side, with their reputation for containment and arch pragmatism, were blinking on Van Persie’s radar. Especially because he also opined that ‘football isn’t about money and flashy things’.
   If Arsène Wenger, who has a year left on his contract, were to leave Arsenal, Van Persie agreed that he, like other players, would consider his position at the club. ‘I don’t really think he [the manager] is going to leave, [but] for me that would change some things,’ he said. ‘I like the way he treats his players, I like the way he trains. Sometimes when I was younger I was a bit upset when I wasn’t playing, but he was always telling me, ‘Take it easy, your time will come.’ ‘ It is surely now. Van Persie was Arsenal’s top scorer last season with 13 goals and the club are now without Thierry Henry. Van Persie endorsed the France striker’s decision to move to Barcelona, having left an indelible imprint, but shied away from the suggestion that he has much in common with Henry.
   ‘I’m not a tennis player. Football is about a whole squad working together,’ Van Persie said. ‘I have a great feeling about this season. We’re young, yes, but we have lots of quality. I believe in the consistency of this team. It’s not about me scoring 20 goals. I think we can go for the title, definitely. We can be a surprise.’
   It might have been an accident, but he was effectively acknowledging that Arsenal are closer to being considered outsiders in the title race than serious contenders.
   Van Persie accepts, though, that, even aged 23 and after only three years in London, he must take on the responsibility befitting a senior player. ‘I really looked up to players like Thierry, Dennis [Bergkamp], [Robert] Pires, [Patrick] Vieira,’ he said. ‘Year by year they have gone.’
   Of the regulars who won the title in 2003-04, only Jens Lehmann, the goalkeeper, Kolo Toure and Gilberto Silva remain.
   Arsenal play Lazio this evening in the LG Amsterdam Tournament and Ajax on Saturday. Van Persie, born in Rotterdam, seemed pleased to be on native turf, but Amsterdam is more like enemy territory. He was attacked by Ajax fans who invaded the pitch en masse when he was playing for Feye-noord reserves in 2004.
   He said that he had feared for his life and needed therapy to get over the trauma, but was more sanguine last night. ‘Something bad was going on,’ he said. ‘I’m not saying it’s OK, but I don’t really want to speak about it, about negative stuff.’
   There was room for a joke with Wesley Sneijder, his Holland teammate and an Ajax player, as they shared the press-conference stage yesterday. Sneijder’s contract expires next summer. ‘See you next year,’ he told his friend. Despite Van Persie’s accent on the positive, it is not a phrase that many at Arsenal will employ until Wenger’s future is secure.

Italian World Cup winning defender Gianluca Zambrotta has joined in criticism of Barcelona’s upcoming promotional tour of Asia, saying it will hamper preparations for next season.
   ‘It would be better to stay in Barcelona to prepare for next season. It is not easy to prepare in such a distant place,’ he told a news conference on Wednesday.
   ‘It is not easy for the players, the constant travel, the jet lag,’ the 30-year-old former Juventus player added.
   Barcelona, who finished second in the Primera Liga last season, head to Beijing on Thursday and will play three exhibition matches in China and Japan before returning to Spain on August 11.
   Barcelona president Joan Laporta defended the trip, telling reporters that a similar pre-season tour of Asia in 2005 did not stop the team from going on to win the Spanish championship that season.
   ‘We have a club membership of 150,000 and it is necessary to give back to them the maximum amount of profit,’ the online edition of Catalan daily La Vanguardia quoted him as saying.
   In August 2006 Barcelona went on a two-week pre-season tour of the United States and Mexico which was blamed by several players, including Ronaldinho, for their lack of peak fitness when the season began.
   The leg through the United States alone earned the club four million euros (5.5 million US dollars), according to Spanish media.
   Real Madrid stars, including Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane, also protested against an 18-day promotional tour of the USA and Asia carried out before the 2005-06 season that included six exhibition matches.
   Real this year will not tour either Asia or the United States and has limited its pre-season travel to locations in Europe.

Juventus fell to another pre-season defeat 1-0 in Hamburg, but Alessandro Del Piero is raring to go after his injury.
   The Bianconeri’s continental tour started with a 2-0 loss at Newcastle United on Sunday and continued in Germany with a completely changed line-up.
   The ‘Juventus 2’ as they have been called struggled to perform against a Hamburg outfit that is ready to begin the Bundesliga in a matter of days. Goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi was forced into three tricky early saves to deny Rafael van der Vaart and Zidan.
   However, Del Piero made his first start since returning from a muscular injury and was inspirational. The captain was denied a penalty for Reinhart’s foul and also curled a free kick just over the bar.
   Summer signings Antonio Nocerino and Domenico Criscito had good opportunities for the Italians, but Hamburg finally snatched victory five minutes from time.
   Belardi was caught out by a Coupo Moting counter-attack to seal this latest setback.
   Considering the German club are ready to begin their domestic campaign and this was a below-strength Juventus side, Coach Claudio Ranieri can be relatively content with the performance.

With Carlos Tevez expected to be the fourth and final Manchester United signing of the summer, the Premiership champions are entitled to feel bullish about their prospects of retaining the title this season, yet this performance served as a reminder that it is in defence, and not going forward, where Sir Alex Ferguson’s side can be exposed. A pre-season friendly watched by a record-breaking crowd saw Internazionale breach United’s rearguard with alarming ease.
   Three times Roberto Mancini’s side scored in a first half when United struggled to contain the Serie A champions’ slick counter-attacking. With John O’Shea in central midfield, Wes Brown featuring at right-back and Chris Eagles deployed on the right, this was far from United’s strongest side. Nonetheless, Ferguson was clearly surprised and disappointed to see United concede so sloppily against an Internazionale side who suffered a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal last Sunday. ‘Our defending in the first half was very poor,’ said Ferguson. ‘You will not win games, it doesn’t matter who you are against, if you defend like that. In the first half they (the United players) were so open. We were all over the place when we lost the ball.’
   There was improvement after the interval, with Adriano heading into his own net to reduce United’s arrears, prompting Ferguson to declare himself ‘happy with the work-out’ 10 days before their first Premier League game.
   Before then United have friendlies against Doncaster today and Peterborough on Saturday, during which Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson – acquired at a combined cost of £50m – are all likely to feature. None of that trio took part last night, denying the 73,738 packed inside Old Trafford a chance to see the new arrivals. Indeed, Ferguson indicated that he is likely to field a similar side to the one that took on Internazionale for Sunday’s Community Shield.
   He had welcomed this match because of the competitive edge it would provide, admitting afterwards that it had presented United’s first major pre-season test after the tour of Asia last month. The manager Ferguson has clearly emerged from the Far East in ebullient mood. The coming months will provide a more reliable test than 90 minutes against an Inter team who took full advantage of United’s soft underbelly. With Paul Scholes and Hargreaves both watching from the sidelines United’s midfield, featuring Michael Carrick and O’Shea at the hub, was overrun. Inter proved ruthless opponents, recovering from Wayne Rooney’s 18th-minute low drive to strike three times in 14 minutes.
   David Suazo, the Honduran forward signed for £6m from Cagliari, scored twice. The striker’s first was a gift after a mix-up between Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic, and his second owed much to Marco Materazzi picking Cristiano Ronaldo’s pocket. Zlatan Ibrahimovic linked with the enterprising Luis Figo before Suazo slotted past Edwin van der Sar. In between Ibrahimovic finished off another sweeping move which again left United floundering.
   Van der Sar had no chance on any of the Inter goals but the Holland international might have chosen a better night to reveal that ‘nothing will be decided (about my future) before January’. He has 12 months remaining on his contract and after failing to impress in United’s earlier pre-season friendlies he could do with some clean sheets to aid his chances of earning a new deal.
   Ferguson praised his players for ‘stepping up’ after the interval when a more rigid shape, combined with the fillip that Adriano’s own-goal provided, encouraged United to play with greater belief. Indeed Rio Ferdinand might have grabbed a late equaliser, but Rooney’s persistence was wasted when the England international blazed over from eight yards. At the other end United’s defending had been just as unconvincing.

Carlos Tevez has pleaded for his move to Manchester United to be speeded up to prevent his performances suffering in the early part of the season.
   Argentina striker Tevez is waiting for the High Court to sort out his controversial £30-million switch as his former club West Ham argue over who owns him with Iranian businessman Kia Joorabchian.
   The delay is beginning to demoralise the 23-year-old striker, who said, ‘We need a solution quickly so that I can get on with my career.
   ‘To play for a super club like Manchester United without any preseason work behind me is going to be a real handicap.’
   United remain confident Tevez will be their player before the transfer window closes on August 31 but last night the striker revealed the hold-up has upset him.
   He added, ‘I am a fighter and am prepared for any challenge. In my career I have demonstrated this many times.
   ‘But this is going to be very difficult.
   ‘I desire a swift solution and demand now that all parties arrive at an agreement because I just want to play.
   ‘I am not responsible for all this bureaucracy.
   ‘Mentally I am prepared for to play for United at any moment, but physically it may be more difficult the longer this goes on.
   ‘My hope was I’d be involved in the Community Shield against Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday. That I am not is very painful.’
   Tevez has been home from the Copa America tournament for almost three weeks but his move to United continues to move painfully slowly.
   A court case to decide the matter is scheduled for August 22. But Tevez told the Daily Mail, ‘It has to be sooner than that.’
   The impasse could be broken on Thursday.
   Although talks between Tevez’s representatives and West Ham broke up without agreement last night, a compromise must now be reached if Joorabchian and his company Media Sports Investment are not to lodge all their papers with the High Court.
   That would move the dispute to another phase, with court proceedings making a settlement more unlikely.
   Meanwhile, Juan Veron warned Carlos Tevez he could face flak and fear at Manchester United rather than fame and fortune.
   Veron has told his fellow Argentine life at Old Trafford will be no bed of roses when he finally completes his controversial move from West Ham.
   The former United midfielder told The Sun, ‘To triumph at the club is not easy, even if you are a superstar.
   ‘Some players leave because of the enormous and constant pressure.
   ‘Carlos will find that United is not like West Ham in any aspect.
   ‘The change will be enormous and if things do not go well he could suffer a mortal fall in fortune.’
   And Veron should know. He joined United from Lazio in July 2001 for £28.1million — then the most expensive transfer in British football history.
   But he flopped and was out on his ear after a couple of years.
   Veron, 32, gave striker Tevez a few home truths about playing for the most famous club in the world during the Copa America tournament.
   He admitted: ‘The people at Old Trafford are very critical.
   ‘If a player has good fortune from the very first day everyone is positive. But if problems appear it is not so easy to triumph.
   ‘The only possible goal there is success. Second place is failure and this burns deep into every player and can affect you.

Manchester United have signed a gifted nine-year-old after his grandfather sent the Premier League champions a DVD showcasing the boy’s talents which has become a YouTube sensation.
   Rhain Davis, who was born in England but has lived in Australia since the age of four, was hailed by the British press on Thursday as the next Wayne Rooney after the United striker.
   The boy’s dribbling and goalscoring prowess for an Under-10 side in Brisbane, Australia, feature in a four-minute YouTube clip, already viewed more than 800,000 times.
   United confirmed the signing but played down the hype around Davis, who has moved back to Cheshire in northern England with his father, near the club’s training ground.
   ‘He’s a member of our academy and we don’t comment on individual members,’ a United spokesman told Reuters.
   He added that the club sign about 40 players of Davis’s age every year and, as is standard, will decide annually whether to renew his contract or release him.
   What was so unusual in Davis’s case was that his skills were brought to the attention of United’s youth scouts by the DVD submission, which could inspire other hopefuls, the spokesman said.
   ‘We’re bracing ourselves for a whole series of DVDs,’ he added.
   Davis has been thrilled at the chance to rub shoulders with some of his idols.
   ‘The best part has been meeting lots of players like Wayne Rooney,’ he told British newspapers.

He may be regarded as the best player in the world, but Cristiano Ronaldo admits Sir Alex Ferguson makes sure he does not step out of line.
   In fact, Fergie rules Manchester United with such an iron fist, it reminds the winger of his early days at home in Portugal.
   ‘He’s like my mother or my father, he gives me limits and targets,’ said the 22-year-old. ‘But he’s fair. The work I’ve done with Sir Alex has been very helpful. I speak almost every day with him. He knows how to create a good atmosphere.’
   Ronaldo gave a rare insight into his relationship with the Old Trafford manager, acknowledging the debt of gratitude he owes for Fergie helping to turn him into such a formidable player.
   He scooped all the Player of the Year awards last season for his inspired role in helping United to a ninth Premiership title, but confessed he can still incur Fergie’s wrath when the veteran boss is on the warpath.
   ‘Sometimes he shakes me, he shouts at me, it’s normal,’ said Ronaldo. ‘At half-time during games, he has shouted at me a few times, but always to improve me. People say he’s mellowed, but he can still get angry – believe me!
   ‘Before every game the manager tells me “Cristiano, enjoy yourself, use your skills”. I listen to that. I like dribbling, it’s my style. But I’ve never taken the mickey out of my opponents. I respect them.
   ‘At the highest level, if you don’t respect your opponents, you won’t get a touch. Every dribble asks for a lot of concentration, it’s very demanding, against anyone.’
   Despite all his individual awards last term, it is clear the Premiership title – United’s first in four seasons – meant the most.
   By the same token, United’s agonising defeats to AC Milan in the semi-final of the Champions League and Chelsea in the FA Cup final are the enduring memories that will drive on Ronaldo in pursuit of more honours this season.
   ‘Last season I was voted Player of the Year by the players, the journalists and the supporters,’ said Ronaldo in Zoo magazine.
   ‘You don’t get that kind of unanimity without having a great season. It was a reward for all my hard work and means I reached my targets.
   ‘But an individual trophy will never be as strong as one you share with your team-mates, even though it remains a great joy. I am proud of what I did.’
   Despite the heroics which turned Ronaldo from Public Enemy No 1 following his World Cup spat with Wayne Rooney, into the Premiership’s star attraction, there are still those who remain unconvinced by the Portugal international.
   He polarises opinion like no other player. There are those who continue to brand him a diver, those who feel he goes to ground too easily and those who claim he only turns on the style against lesser opponents and has not proved himself a big-game player.
   They are charges Ronaldo rejects. ‘Last season, I had great games against Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool in the league,’ he said. ‘I was good against Roma in the Champions League. There was a lot at stake in those games. I think I’ve shown I can be good in important games. The only ones who really matter to me are the United fans. If the opposition supporters respect me, that’s all good. But if they hate me, fair enough, I accept it.
   ‘I know that during certain games I do too much. But I can’t deny myself. This is my way of playing football, I take risks, I dribble, I shoot.
   ‘With the replays, people can make their own opinion. But I don’t cheat. I don’t do that. Some people don’t like me and have a bad opinion of me, but what can I do?
   ‘During last season’s derby against Manchester City a player stamped on me. The supporters booed me and said I had simulated. I don’t care. I do my work. People have their own opinion of me, I can’t do anything about it.’
   Despite his elevation to A-list celebrity status, confirmation of which came when he was mobbed by adoring fans everywhere he went on United’s pre-season tour of the Far East, Ronaldo insists nothing will be allowed to affect his love of the game.
   ‘Football is my life,’ he said. ‘When I was a kid, I only dreamt about it, to play in big stadiums, to be a professional and to win titles. This is the life I have always dreamt about, so how can I be sad?
   ‘Sometimes you get upset by missed chances and defeats. I can be angry on the pitch, but never sad. I enjoy myself with a ball. I don’t ever recall a game when I didn’t have fun. It’s never happened to me.’

Alex Ferguson insists Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes will figure in his plans for the next three years. Manchester United boss Fergie bought players in the veteran duo’s midfield positions this summer with the likes of Nani, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves.
   But Fergie said: ‘The new arrivals represent our future — don’t jump to the conclusion I am trying to hurry our older players out of the team.
   You have to acknowledge that Ryan Giggs is 33 and Paul Scholes is 32 but, in my view, both have another three years in them.
   ‘They have both looked after themselves and are extremely fit so there are no worries there.
   ‘The new signings are not replacements, they are there to strengthen our resources. Injuries took their toll on the final lap last season.’

Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze expects his future to be resolved by the end of the week. Heinze is keen to join Liverpool after the Anfield club made a 6.8-million-pound offer that matched United’s asking price, but Sir Alex Ferguson has so far refused to sell the Argentina star to United’s bitter rivals.
   Heinze’s representatives threatened legal action because they claim United gave written confirmation they would let him leave if their valuation was met.
   However, the dispute finally appears to be close to a conclusion. ‘I’ll know precisely in what team I’m going to play at the end of the week,’ Heinze told the Sun. ‘In a few days we’ll see what will happen.
   ‘I know there are several teams interested in me and that makes me feel really proud. Sometimes the player is the last one to find out where he will play.’

Former Barcelona and Real Madrid star Luis Figo may join former Real clubmate David Beckham in Major League Soccer (MLS) next year, according to Alexi Lalas, president of the English star’s new club Los Angeles Galaxy.
   Lalas told Thursday’s Marca sports daily said he believed Portuguese star Figo would head Stateside, although not to the Galaxy, when his Inter Milan contract runs out next summer.
   Lalas also confirmed he had tried to woo another former Real star in Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, but without success.
   Lalas said he offered the now retired 35-year-old World Cup winner 35 million euros (50 million dollars) for a one-year contract but that Zidane “did not want to come”, adding that two other MLS sides - Chivas USA and Chicago Fire - had also tried to land the star.

Barcelona striker Ronaldinho says the club’s pre-season training programme is too intense and has complained to Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard, Spanish media said Thursday.
   ‘Keep calm, keep calm. Life’s not like that,’ said the Brazilian when Rijkaard demanded ‘more intensity’ as he put the squad through their paces under a hot sun during a session on Wednesday.
   Ronaldinho admitted late last season he was struggling for form and missed out on Brazil’s Copa America win to have a summer break.
   But there will be no let-up for Barca, who were pipped to the league title last season and also lost their European crown, as Thursday saw them head out to China for an eight-day Asian tour which has itself drawn criticism from players such as French defender Lilian Thuram and Italian Gianluca Zambrotta.
   Chairman Joan Laporta justified the trip as one which would bolster the club’s international image and also, according to media reports, pour some six million euros into the coffers.
   The club hierarchy has already called for greater discipline in the ranks this season to avoid another trophyless year.

Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar will wait until January before deciding whether to extend his stay at Old Trafford.
   Van der Sar’s contract with the Premiership champions expires at the end of the season but he is in no hurry to agree a new deal.
   The Dutchman struggled at times last season and was blamed for Didier Drogba’s FA Cup final winner, but an injury to Ben Foster means the 36-year-old will start the season as United’s first-choice stopper.
   He is refreshed after a lengthy break and insists he will be back to his best this season.
   ‘Last season was a long campaign but I had a long break and I feel good,’ he told United’s website.
   ‘I am not thinking about what is going to happen. If I am still enjoying myself, then we will see but nothing will be decided before January.
   ‘You always have to be at your best at United,’ he said. ‘If you are not, someone else is always ready to take your place.
   ‘I did not have the same consistency at the end of last season as I had in the previous campaign. I don’t know why.
   ‘But when you make mistakes, you look at how to improve and then get on with it.’
   Van der Sar believes Sir Alex Ferguson’s close-season signings of Owen Hargreaves, Anderson and Nani make United a good bet to retain the Premiership crown.
   But he knows they must get off to a quick start, beginning with their opener against Reading, to ensure they stay ahead of their title rivals.
   ‘We must make sure we get off to a good start, like we did last season,’ he said.
   ‘We have three games in the first week and it is important we do well in them otherwise we can end up under pressure straight away.
   ‘From then on, the team will grow and the new players will learn what is expected of them.’

Brazilian football confederation (CBF) president Ricardo Teixeira has revealed that drunkenness was one of the reasons behind the team’s failure at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, reports daily O Estado de Sao Paulo.
   Teixeira, speaking in Zurich, did not specify which players he was talking about, but said that some arrived at the hotel ‘between 4:00 and 6:00am, drunk’.
   Brazil arrived in Germany as the favourite to win its sixth World Cup title, but lost 1-0 to France in the quarterfinals.
   Teixeira hinted that the command of the national team,
   then coached by Carlos
   Alberto Parreira, was not strong enough.
   ‘That is why I need discipline, and that is (current coach) Dunga’s role,’ the CBF boss was quoted as saying in Thursday’s edition.
   He also said he would have no problem if Dunga were to exclude Milan forward Ronaldo from the national team.
   ‘How old is Ronaldo today? How old will he be in the 2010 World Cup? That is all I have to say,’ Teixeira noted.
   ‘We have to find another Ronaldo.’
   Ronaldo, who will be 33 in 2010, was criticised for his excessive bodyweight - amongst other things - at the most recent World Cup.
   ‘How can a player get to a cup weighing 98 kg?’ asked Teixeira.
   ‘I weigh almost that and I am no sportsman.’
   The head of the Brazilian delegation in the 2006 World Cup, Marco Polo Del Nero, said he was not aware of drunkenness among players.
   ‘If that happened I did not see it,’ he said, quoted by the newspaper.
   ‘The technical commission must have hidden those episodes very well, even from the head of the delegation.’
   Teixeira did not say why he chose to speak about Germany 2006 now, one year after the tournament, and neither did he assume any portion of the responsibility for the team’s failure.