Abahani emerged as the Kai-Altech Premier Cricket League champions defeating Victoria by seven wickets in their penultimate match of the Super League at the Fatullah stadium on Thursday. With this win Abahani raised their tally to 25 points, three ahead of Mohammedan SC, which means their last match against their arch-foes will be a mere routine affair.
   In the other matches of the day, Mohammedan beat Old DOHS by 150 runs and Sonargaon Cricketers defeated Biman by seven wickets.
   Abahani won the toss and sent Victoria in to bat. The decision was vindicated when Victoria had lost all of their wickets for a meagre 170 runs. Opener Nasiruddin Faruq was only batsman to shine with a score of 78 runs. His partner Imrul Kayes added 30 as Abahani bowlers dominated the secne. Talha Jubair ripped through the Victoria line-up grabbing four for 25 and Sohrawardi Shuvo scalped three for 39.
   Abahani openers Najmus Sadat and Ziaur Rahman gave their team a good foundation by scoring 76 runs in 12.4 overs, but Victoria bowlers threatened to steal the show when they sent both the openers back within three runs. However, Naeem Islam and Sri Lankan all-rounder Upul Chandana steadied the innings and steered their team to victory scoring 40 and 43 runs respectively in an unbroken 80-run partnership for the fourth wicket. .
   Mohammedan kept their runners-up hope alive with a 150-run mauling of Old DOHS at the BKSP. Batting first, Mohammedan piled up a massive 285-8 courtesy of the 74-run innings from Indian batsman Sandeep Sharma, who was ably supported by Sagir Hossain (68). Aftab Ahmed (37) and Faisal Hossain (45) were the other notable run-getters for Mohammedan. Nabil Samad took three wickets for 60 runs.
   Victoria, however, were bundled out for 134 in 31.1 overs. Nadif Chowdhury and Mazharuddin made 29 and 31 runs respectively. Five Mohammedan bowlers – Monjurul Islam, Arafat Sunny, Rashedul Huq, Hasibul Hossain and Monirul Islam – all captured two wickets each. Old DOHS have 13 points to their credit.
   A five-wicket haul for only 34 runs by pacer Mahbubul Alam helped Sonargaon Cricketers skittle out Biman for 124 runs. Farhad Reza and Mushfiqur Rahman scored 35 and 24 runs amid the ruins. Soanrgaon reached the winning target in 26.5 overs with Mehrab Hossain scoring 33, Iliyas Sunny adding 38 and Marshal Ayub chipping in with 33 not out.
   Sonargaon are in the third position with 21 points while Biman’s tally is 17.

AC Milan were crowned European champions for the seventh time after they edged Liverpool 2-1 in the Champions League final here on Wednesday, taking their revenge for their heartbreaking defeat to the Merseysiders in the 2005 final.
   Filippo Inzaghi scored both Milan goals – the first coming off his shoulder after he was struck by Andrea Pirlo’s free-kick just before half-time – before he netted a second in the 82nd minute after being put through superbly by Kaka.
   Dirk Kuyt pulled one back for Liverpool a minute from time with a close range header, but Milan held on to lift the trophy.
   For Milan it was pretty much a miraculous victory having originally been expelled from this year’s tournament and docked eight points from their domestic championship for their involvement in Italy’s match-fixing scandal.
   However, they were allowed back into the Champions League and Wednesday saw them culminate one of the more extravagant comebacks since Lazarus was raised from the dead.
   Two years ago in Istanbul, Milan stormed into a 3-0 half-time lead only to allow Liverpool to draw level within a six-minute second-half spell, before losing to the Premiership side on penalties.
   But this time there was less drama and no Liverpool heroics as Milan atoned themselves for the worst night in their history.
   However, for Milan’s hardman midfielder Gennaro Gattuso it was revenge personified
   ‘The defeat in Istanbul will stay with me for the rest of my life,’ said Gattuso, who briefly had a spell with Scottish giants Rangers.
   ‘But today it’s Liverpool who are crying, just like we did two years ago,’ added the non-compromising World Cup winning midfielder.
   Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez admitted the best team had won.
   ‘I am not happy with the time added on but congratulations to AC Milan,’ said the Spaniard.
   ‘We created some chances in the first-half. I think we played better than we did in Istanbul (2005) with the wingers being used more but the deflection on the first goal changed everything.
   ‘Of course we can come back and make another final, after all that is two (finals) in three years.’
   For Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard, who had a great chance to level with 30 minutes remaining but saw Dida smother it, the better team had won.
   ‘I’ll have to go back and see the video but to my mind the better side won,’ said the England international.
   ‘We controlled the game in the first-half but let it drift away in the second.
   ‘They (AC Milan) are a top side and we have to take stock and come back again which we will do again next year.’
   AC Milan midfield counterpart Clarence Seedorf, who was more muted than in his previous Champions League appearances this season, admitted that it had not been the greatest of finals.
   ‘I am so proud to be part of this team. We worked so hard as it has been a very difficult year,’ said the Dutch international.
   ‘We made it happen because we have such a great spirit in this team but it was not a great final. We were lucky and took our chances.’
   The Olympic Stadium in Athens, which was modernised in 2002 for the Olympic Games, has proved a lucky venue for Milan as they also won the 1994 Champions League final here, beating Barcelona 4-0. Milan captain Paolo Maldini, whose season has been plagued by a left-knee injury was passed fit to play, enabling him to equal former Real Madrid midfielder Francisco Gento’s record of eight European Cup final appearances.
   Inzaghi was preferred to Alberto Gilardino to play as a lone striker for the Serie A side. Behind him to offer support were attacking midfielders Kaka, the competition’s leading scorer with 10 goals, and Dutchman Clarence Seedorf.
   Gerrard, whose goal sparked his side’s comeback in Istanbul, was deployed in an advanced role just behind lone striker Kuyt. Javier Mascherano was paired with Xabi Alonso in midfield to help counter the threat of Kaka.
   Liverpool came close to taking the lead in the 10th minute after Czech defender Marek Jankulovski lost possession to Pennant. The marauding Liverpool midfielder’s one-two with Gerrard left him in a wider position than he would have liked, and his angled shot was saved by Dida’s outstretched hand.
   Pirlo’s through-ball just crept beyond Inzaghi as Milan countered before Kaka’s shot was comfortably gathered by Pepe Reina, Liverpool’s hero in the semi-final penalty shoot-out against Chelsea.
   The momentum swung back Liverpool’s way with Gerrard firing over the bar and Alonso screwing a shot wide from the edge of the box.
   With Milan being squeezed out in midfield, Liverpool continued to dominate, John Arne Riise’s drive clearing the bar before Kuyt’s effort was blocked.
   Milan’s frustration grew and Gattuso was booked in the 40th minute for bringing down Alonso.
   Totally against the run of play, Milan made the breakthrough just before the break.
   Alonso’s clumsy foul on Kaka resulted in a free-kick 20 yards from goal, and Pirlo’s shot hit Inzaghi’s shoulder to divert the ball away from Reina’s grasp.
   Jankulovski and Mascherano joined Gattuso in referee Herbert Fandel’s notebook before Zenden made way for Harry Kewell.
   Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was the fourth player to be yellow-carded as the game became more fractious,
   Gerrard should have equalised in the 62nd minute after Gattuso had given the ball away, but the Liverpool
   skipper’s shot lacked power and accuracy and Dida was able to make a straightforward save.
   With 13 minutes to go, Benitez brought on Peter Crouch for Mascherano, hoping to benefit from the giant striker’s aerial presence.
   Inzaghi pounced again eight minutes from time, running onto Kaka’s sublime pass before rounding Reina and slotting home from a tight angle.
   Kuyt’s header gave Liverpool hope, but Milan clung on to banish those dark memories of Istanbul.

India have retained opener Wasim Jaffer for the second Test against Bangladesh, starting in Dhaka from today, despite the player scoring a ‘pair’ in the Chittagong Test.
   ‘I think the selectors are quite clear, irrespective of what happened in the first game. We will not be changing an opening combination after every game,’ said skipper Rahul Dravid at a press conference on Thursday.
   ‘Wasim (Jaffer) has got a hundred in the last match in Cape Town in our last series. The feeling is that we are not going to change him even if he fails in one game and for that matter Dinesh Karthik, who will get a couple of games to prove his credentials as an opener,’ he said.
   The decision to retain Jaffer means both VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh miss out again after they were not picked in Chittagong
   ‘It’s unfortunate that both Laxman and Yuvraj had to miss out. It’s not an easy decision, never has been and never will be,’ said Dravid.
   ‘We felt that on this tour especially in these conditions we needed five bowlers. So, there are basically three slots in the middle-order. Between myself, Sourav, Sachin, Yuvraj and Laxman, we fighting for three spots.’
   India fielded five bowlers in the rain-interrupted first Test, which ended in a draw. However, they had to play with virtually four after Anil Kumble came down with fever and was unable to take part.
   But as Kumble has now recovered Dravid said the team management was now pondering to partner his champion leg-spinner with Ramesh Powar, an off-spinner, and Rajesh Powar, a left-arm spinner.
   Ramesh Powar made his Test debut in Chittagong and should India decide to go into the match with three spinners, then Rajesh will get his first Test cap at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.
   ‘We are keeping that option open whether to play with three spinners or three quick bowlers. We will take the final decision after giving a last look at the wicket tomorrow (Friday),’ said Dravid.
   In case India leave the idea of playing with three spinners, then pacer Ishant Sharma, who replaced Munaf Patel after the first Test, will be handed a Test debut. He will join Zaheer Khan and RP Singh in seam attack as VRV Singh was not in the probable twelve.
   Bangladesh did not name their starting eleven as there is a fitness concern over pace bowler Shahadat Hossain. Paceman Mohammad Sharif has been drafted as back-up.

England’s pace bowlers will be given another chance to prove they can function without ‘Freddie’ after all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was ruled out of the second Test against the West Indies starting at Headingley here today.
   Officials, doubtless conscious of the need to look after the long-term health of their star player, decided against bringing paceman Flintoff back for the second match of a four-Test series after he missed the drawn series opener at Lord’s with a recurrence of his longstanding left ankle problem.
   A few overs in the nets at Headingley on Wednesday were all it needed for the England management to pull the plug on thoughts of Lancashire’s Flintoff appearing at arch-rivals Yorkshire’s headquarters, even though they’d originally planned of giving him a two-day trial.
   ‘It was deemed that Andrew’s ankle did not demonstrate sufficient improvement after his first bowling session today (Wednesday),’ said an England and Wales Cricket Board statement, ‘and in order to allow the ankle to rehabilitate effectively and continue to improve it was felt the best decision was to rule him out now without a further assessment tomorrow (Thursday).’
   The statement added: ‘Andrew will leave the England squad tonight (Wednesday) and return to Lancashire where he will continue to undergo rehabilitation and revue.
   ‘He will only begin to bowl at an appropriate stage and any participation in Lancashire’s forthcoming county matches will be made in due course.’
   Without Flintoff, England opted for a four-man as opposed to their favoured five-man, attack at Lord’s and then found themselves a bowler light when Matthew Hoggard went off injured in his 11th over with a thigh problem and didn’t return.
   However, Flintoff’s absence means England have been spared the potentially awkward problem of dropping either Paul Collingwood or Ian Bell, both of whom scored hundreds at Lord’s, in order to fit in the same team both returning captain and batsman Michael Vaughan, fit after a broken finger, and ‘Freddie’.
   Now it lookes as if Vaughan, who hasn’t played a Test for 18 months, will come in for Owais Shah.

Satkhira and Tangail completed the semi-final lineup of the Western Union National Youth Football ousting Rajshahi and Jhenaidah at the Satkhira stadium on Thursday.
   Satkhira won against Rajshahi 2-0 with Mehedi Hasan Ripon scoring a brace in the 19th and 27th minutes. They will face BKSP on Sunday in the second semi-final.
   Tangail thrashed Jhenidah by 6-0 goals. Rafiqul Islam slammed a hat-trick scoring in the 10th, 33rd and 54th minutes. Ripon scored two and Awal added the other. Tangail will take on Noakhali on Saturday.

Outgoing Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody’s sidekick is taking charge of the national team until a formal appointment is made, a senior Sri Lanka Cricket source said Thursday.
   Trevor Penney, who played for English county side Warwickshire for 17 seasons, joined Moody in late 2005 as fielding coach. He was England’s fielding coach in the 2005 Ashes series.
   ‘Trevor’s contract runs until the end of August so he will be in charge alongside Rumesh Ratnayake (a former Sri Lankan fast bowler),’ the source, who did not want to be named, said.
   Sri Lanka Cricket, at its executive committee meeting on Wednesday, shortlisted four possible contenders to replace Moody, who is leaving to take over coaching duties at Western Australia after completing his two-year contract with the Sri Lankans. Penney is not on the shortlist.
   ‘We are not in a hurry to appoint a new coach and (will) let the process run its course,’ the source said, adding that it may not be before mid-June that any announcement can be made on the new appointment.

Roger Federer next week launches his ninth attempt to crack the French Open riddle which has continued to confound his dream of being crowned the greatest player of all time.
   The 26-year-old Swiss has made a habit of monopolising the other three Grand Slam tournaments on the calendar, routinely waltzing to four Wimbledons, three US Opens and three Australian Open titles.
   But come Paris in the spring and Federer has suffered the same demoralising fate as similar gifted predecessors - McEnroe, Becker, Sampras - who all came up short on the unforgiving red clay of the French capital.
   Adding to the mystery is that Federer is no clay court rookie.
   Amongst his 48 career titles are four Hamburg Masters wins, all achieved on the slowest surface in the sport and all clinched in the run-up to Roland Garros.
   It’s his misfortune, however, that his hopes of winning the French Open, and so becoming only the sixth man in history to lift all four Grand Slam trophies, has coincided with the clay court mastery of world number two Rafael Nadal.
   The muscular Spaniard, who has won the last two tournaments here, beating Federer in the semi-final in 2005 and the final in 2006, has yet to lose at Roland Garros.
   But Federer senses that 2007 is his big chance.
   Having split with coach Tony Roche, the world number one defeated Nadal for the first time on clay in last week’s Hamburg final, ending the Spaniard’s 81-match winning streak on his favourite surface.
   It was Federer’s first win in six career clay court meetings with his nemesis and also avenged his brutally one-sided 6-4, 6-4 defeat in the Monte Carlo final in April.
   Federer has now won three of the pair’s past four meetings, although he still trails 7-4 overall.
   ‘He had 81 wins in a row on clay, that’s phenomenal,’ said Federer whose win in Hamburg was a timely boost after an uncharacteristic first round loss in Rome the week before which prompted the split with Roche.
   ‘If you know how physical it is you could think that once you got the upper hand over the guys on clay you never lose again and that’s how it looked like. But eventually it’s going to get you.
   ‘The win in Hamburg is great. I got him. Now it will be interesting going into the French Open to see both reactions.’
   Federer knows deep down that a win here on June 10 would secure his position as the best player of all time.
   It would also make him just the third man, after Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) to hold all four Grand Slams at the same time, although the American and Australian achieved theirs in the same year.
   Andre Agassi, the last man to complete a career Grand Slam when he triumphed here in 1999, believes Laver has the edge because of his French Open wins.
   ‘Laver has a big claim with a Grand Slam in the same year and he did it twice,’ said the now-retired Agassi.
   ‘Federer has the French Open to win and he will be on the verge if he wins in Paris this year.’
   However, Laver is convinced that Federer’s place in history is already assured.
   ‘People often ask me if Roger is the greatest player of all time,’ Laver wrote in Time magazine recently.
   ‘Let’s wait until the end of his career before making the ‘best ever’ judgment.
   ‘One thing is for sure: He’s the best player of his time and one of the most admirable champions on the planet.’
   Despite the plaudits and the readiness of history books to be rewritten, it’s Nadal who remains the favourite to win a third straight French Open title, a record achieved only by Bjorn Borg (1978-1981) in the open era.
   The 20-year-old left-hander may have had his 81-match streak broken by Federer but he has looked in impressive form on European clay this year winning titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome before coming unstuck in Germany.
   ‘I have played a lot of finals in the last two months. I’m playing my best tennis, better than ever,’ explained the Spaniard. ‘I’ll be 100% for the French Open.’
   Such is the dominance of Federer and Nadal, who have shared the last eight Grand Slam events between them, that it’s almost impossible to see another challenge.
   Andy Roddick, whose career has been condemned to the shadows in recent years, is still the world number three but has never made it beyond the third round here.
   World number four Nikolay Davydenko is solid, not spectacular, and was a semi-finalist two years ago while number five Fernando Gonzalez has a best performance of a quarter-final in 2003.
   Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, who has just turned 20 and is now the world number six, is a potential dark horse with the game to suit all surfaces.
   He won the Estoril clay title this year and was a quarter-finalist in Rome and Hamburg.

Michael Vaughan hopes his return for the second Test against the West Indies will end the ‘confusion’ surrounding the England captaincy.
   Vaughan has not played a Test for 18 months since appearing against Pakistan in Lahore in December 2005 after being sidelined mainly with knee and hamstring problems.
   And just when he was on the verge of making a Test return, he missed the drawn series opener against the West Indies at Lord’s after having his finger broken by Hampshire’s Australia seamer Stuart Clark while playing for Yorkshire.
   But he is now set to make his comeback in the five-day game in the second Test of a four-match series starting at his Headingley home ground on Friday.
   In his absence, England have been led by Marcus Trescothick, currently injured all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and Andrew Strauss.
   Vaughan, 32, said he felt underused during England’s 5-0 Ashes series thrashing, arguing his tactical input could have helped the team.
   But critics, including former England captain Michael Atherton, have said Vaughan’s wish to be involved while unfit to play has been an unnecessary distraction for the side.
   ‘If you’ve continuous leadership rather than stop-start of course the team are going to get used to the way I captain and it will be better for everyone,’ Vaughan told reporters at Headingley here Thursday.
   ‘There’ll be no confusion. We’ve just got to make sure I stay on the park and get a good run of games in,’ said the Yorkshire batsman, who in 2005 led England to their first Ashes series victory in 19 years.
   And Vaughan, who has scored 4,595 runs in his 64 Tests at an average of nearly 43 with 15 hundreds, insisted he had not been made a special case, joking comparing himself to Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, the self-styled ‘special one’.
   ‘Are you going to start calling me Jose? Excellent. I’m the England captain, I’ve made myself available for selection. I’ve been selected. Surely, that’s a positive thing?
   ‘The finger’s fine, it’s had three weeks now. I certainly wouldn’t put myself up for selection if I didn’t think I could get through.
   ‘There’s absolutely no reason why I can’t go out there tomorrow (Friday) and get a big score because I feel in a good frame of mind.’

Paolo Maldini insists he has no intention of retiring with this triumph. ‘I want to play the Intercontinental Cup and try to win the Champions League again.’
   The captain walked up the stairs to get the trophy from Michel Platini’s hands in his eighth Final.
   ‘It is my fifth victory, but it is always beautiful. I am lucky to play in a great side that enables me to make up for disappointments,’ said the defender.
   This 2-1 win over Liverpool was revenge for the loss on penalties in Istanbul two years ago.
   ‘It has to be said that any disappointments have been far outnumbered by the wonderful pleasures the club has given me.’
   Many thought that a win in Athens would seal the end of Maldini’s glittering career, but he is more than happy to carry on.
   ‘It would be a good way to end it, but I want to play the Intercontinental Cup in December, have another season and try to win the Champions League again.’
   There were fears that Liverpool would stage another comeback after Dirk Kuyt’s late header, but Pippo Inzaghi’s brace proved decisive.
   ‘We were a little worried, but it was offside anyway!’ laughed Maldini.

Ryan Sidebottom is looing forward to getting one up on his father after being recalled to the England squad six years after playing his one and only Test.
   The left-arm seamer, who were he to be included would add much needed variety to England’s attack, is competing against James Anderson and Liam Plunkett for a place in the second Test against the West Indies starting at Headingley today after Matthew Hoggard (thigh) injured himself in the drawn series opener at Lord’s.
   Like his father Arnie, a Yorkshire seamer who featured in the 1985 Ashes, Sidebottom junior is currently a one-Test wonder, having made his debut in a Lord’s victory over Pakistan in 2001.
   ‘A lot of players have probably seen the regime change as a positive,’ Sidebottom, who knows Headingley well from his time with Yorkshire, said Wednesday.
   ‘I probably didn’t perform to the best of my ability when I played that Test but I am a better bowler now. I’ve been a consistent performer and been opening the bowling in all forms of the game for Notts and reaping the rewards,’ added Sidebottom, who took 50 county championship wickets in consecutive years in 2005 and 2006.
   But he said his England recall had come as a shock. ‘We were just going out for training and our coach at Nottinghamshire Mick Newell dragged me in the office and said David Graveney (England’s chairman of selectors) had rung.
   ‘It was a bit out of the blue but I’m pleasantly surprised.’
   Sidebottom said his current Test status had been the source of a few laughs between him and his father. ‘My dad and I still have a joke and a giggle about it and he said ‘you’ll probably outdo me now’.
   However, Arnie Sidebottom may not be at Headingley on Friday should Ryan make it into England’s XI. ‘My mum is trying to get dad to come to the Test but I’m not sure if he will,’ explained his son, who left Yorkshire in 2004.
   ‘He’s a nervous wreck watching me. I think he would rather go down to the bookies and lose his money on the horses.’

Germany’s captain Michael Ballack will miss next week’s Euro 2008 qualifiers against San Marino and Slovakia after failing to recover from an ankle injury, it was revealed on Thursday.
   The 30-year-old, who has won 77 caps for his country, was injured playing for English FA Cup winners Chelsea in a Premier League game against Newcastle United on April 22.
   He immediately flew to Munich to have a piece of bone removed, but last month’s operation did not go down well with Chelsea as Ballack was forced to miss his club’s FA Cup final and Champions League semi-final ties.
   But after several weeks of treatment, the midfielder finally threw in the towel on his chances of playing against San Marino in Nuremberg on June 2 and Solvaki in Hamburg on June 6.
   Ballack told national coach Joachim Low on Thursday that he was withdrawing from the squad.
   Germany are top of Group D with a game in hand over the second-placed Czech Republic and two games in hand over the third-placed Republic of Ireland.

Venezuela’s Copa America stadiums may not all be ready in time, the South American Football Confederation (CSF) said on Wednesday after a week-long inspection.
   Eugenio Figueredo, the confederation’s vice-president, said his team would be back in June for another visit to see if all the work had been finished.
   Venezuela has ambitious plans to host this year’s 12-team event at nine different venues around the country, including five brand new stadiums.
   ‘We will return on June 1 to see if the timetable has been kept to and then we will make the final decision on where the games will be played,’ Figueredo told reporters.
   The Copa is due to start on June 26 and Figueredo said work at some venues was being left to the last minute.
   ‘It could be June 10 or 12 before everything is finished,’ he said. ‘The deadline has been pushed back for a variety of problems.’
   Figueredo, however, paid tribute to the host nation’s attempt to take the tournament to so many regions. ‘The challenge which Venezuela has taken on, in wanting to take the Copa America to nine venues, is more than heroic,’ he said.
   ‘The whole country is working intensely to hold the most modern version of this event that has ever been seen.’
   Jorge Rodriguez, president of the local organising committee, promised all the stadiums would be ready.

West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan hopes his side can continue to upset the odds when they play England in the second Test starting at Headingley here today.
   ‘Playing so well at Lord’s, and drawing a Test match a lot of people said we would lose - that meant a lot to us,’ Sarwan told reporters at Headingley on Thursday.
   ‘That should give us momentum for this match,’ Sarwan, captain following the retirement of star batsman Brian Lara, added.
   Sarwan, who said West Indies were likely to name an unchanged XI, was also heartened by the aggression his pace bowlers showed as the match at Lord’s wore on. ‘One positive we can take from the last game is that we bowled quite a few short balls in the second innings.
   ‘In the first innings, we were very hesitant about it - a couple of our players looked very shy. That is one of the tactics we might use in this game.’
   ‘There was a lot of talk about us not getting too much practice before the first game.
   ‘But now we’ve had sufficient practice and spent plenty of time in the middle bowling and batting, so I think we’ve come on a long way.
   ‘We played very competitively throughout the Test match, and we showed some sort of fight. That is something which has been lacking from us for some time,’ Sarwan explained.

Cleanup crews in Athens collected 98 tonnes of beer cans left behind by Liverpool and AC Milan fans during their stay in the city for Wednesday’s Champions League final, a city official said on Thursday.
   ‘From Tuesday onwards, we collected seven truck-loads of beer cans,’ the official told private Flash Radio following AC Milan’s 2-1 win. ‘Each load is fourteen tonnes...and because beer has a certain effect on bodily functions, we had to wash many areas with shampoo afterwards,’ he added.
   Thousands of fans, mainly Liverpool supporters, arrived in Athens without tickets and authorities created gathering areas in the city’s main squares to accommodate them.

Bangladesh-born Anuradha Bhowmik, a 14-year-old girl from Northfield, defeated 69 other competitors in 12 rounds by correctly spelling the word ‘penicillin’ to win the Spelling Bee competition in the USA.
   ‘I want to be a doctor, for babies,’ Bhowmik said, clutching her trophy and smiling at her proud parents, both doctors in their native Bangladesh.
   The regional competition was held at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, with school champions from Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic counties competing.
   Bhowmik, a three-time champion at Northfield Middle School, will move on to the Scripps national Spelling Bee in Washington on May 30 and 31.
   She correctly spelled ‘tentacle’ to move on to the championship round then watched as runners-up Mary Dale and Christian Thomson failed on ‘silhouetted’ and ‘eligible’, said a press release.

A century against Bangladesh in Chittagong has failed to push master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar into the top 20, according to the latest LG ICC Test rankings released on Wednesday.
   Rahul Dravid, at number eight with 793 points, is the only Indian in the list of the top Test batsmen that is led by Australia‘s Ricky Ponting with 936 points, followed by Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf (915) and England’s Kevin Pietersen (864).
   Among the bowlers, Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan leads with 913 points. Anil Kumble grabs the fourth spot with 725 points. Surprisingly, Irfan Pathan still figures in the list, retaining his number 16 spot as a bowler and featuring as the fifth best all-rounder in the world, despite being discarded by the national team from both Tests and ODIs.
   India find themselves at number four on the list, one point behind Pakistan at 107. Australia sit pretty on the top with 135 points. England are placed second with 114 points. Bangladesh find themselves languishing at the bottom with two points to their name.

The BBC voiced surprise Thursday that a Pakistani journalist is seeking substantial damages from the broadcaster for allegedly inferring he was linked to cricket coach Bob Woolmer’s death.
   Qureshi’s lawyers, in a legal notice they said was served to the BBC, said the programme ‘gave an impression as if me and the other gentleman accompanying him were the suspects or had anything to do with the death of Bob Woolmer.’
   But a BBC spokesman said it was ‘preposterous to suggest that anything in this Panorama programme is defamatory of Mr Qureshi or has damaged his reputation in any way at all.’
   ‘Any legal action will be vigorously defended by the BBC.’

The Brazilian Football Federation gave striker Romario a medal on Monday for scoring his 1,000th goal, identical to the medal given to Pele, the only other Brazilian to score 1,000 professional goals.
   ‘The Federation is honoured to be able to pay homage to a player as important as Romario has been for the game and for the national team,’ president of the federation Ricardo Teixeira said in a statement published on the body’s website. Romario will also receive a national team t-shirt with the number 1,000.
   Teixeira said he felt a special affection for Romario because in 1989 Brazil had not won the Copa America but that in that year, the same year that Teixeira became president, Romario scored the winning goal in the Copa.
   In 1994, after 24 years without a Cup Brazil won their fourth World Cup with a great deal of help from Romario, known to fans as Shorty.
   Dunga, the current manager of the Brazil national team, who was part of the same 1994 squad, said he was pleased that Romario had achieved the feat.
   ‘I am happy to have been part of the same generation as a player who has made history in achieving a target only ever reached by one other Brazilian’.
   Meanwhile, Romario’s mother Lita Farias publicly advised her son to retire soon from football.
   ‘I think Romario could score four or five more goals and then retire. Now that’s it. He has to give up his place to other guys,’ Dona Lita said, in comments that the Brazilian daily O Globo published Tuesday.
   The striker, who at the beginning of the year said he would ‘hang his boots’ following his 1,000th goal, now says that he still has not set himself a deadline for retirement and that he intends to find ‘other objectives’ to keep playing.
   His mother, however, admitted that she feels the effects of the almost two-month wait for the 1,000th goal, with four failed attempts since March 25.
   ‘Even I felt tired. Sometimes I had other things to do, but I had to go to the stadium to wait for the thousandth goal,’ she said.
   Lita Farias noted that, after having reached the top of world football, her son should now give way to younger generations.
   ‘Even Romarinho is now in the dispute,’ the woman said of her 13- year-old grandson, who currently plays in the lower ranks of Vasco da Gama.

Italian newspapers went wild on Thursday for AC Milan’s seventh European Cup triumph and even dared to mention the word revenge.
   Milan had been keen to play down the idea of vengeance in the run-up to the final against Liverpool but the press had no doubt that the 2-1 win in Athens had soothed memories of the defeat on penalties to the same side in the 2005 final.
    ‘Revenge on Liverpool, Milan the champions,’ was La Repubblica’s simple take on Wednesday’s match.
   ‘There you go,’ ran Gazzetta dello Sport’s front-page headline, followed by seven exclamation marks – one for each of their seven Cups.
   Most of the main photographs showed 38-year-old captain Paolo Maldini holding the trophy aloft with his fifth winners’ medal around his neck. ‘He is immortal,’ said Gazzetta.
   There was barely a mention in any paper that Liverpool had dominated for much of the match or that Filippo Inzaghi’s first goal had been slightly fortuitous as Andrea Pirlo’s free-kick ricocheted off him into the net, possibly off his arm.
   Inzaghi, often known as Super Pippo for his goal-poaching even at the age of 33, became Super Euro Pippo in Gazzetta as the paper made him their star man with nine points.
   Milan’s team received an average of 7.5 while Liverpool
   managed only five and not one of their players got more than 6.5.
   The clean-up in Milan’s main square, Piazza del Duomo, was beginning on Thursday after an all-night party which included mini-bonfires and fireworks.
   Car horns honked loudly and youngsters on mopeds sped round the city with flags draped over their shoulders in scenes reminiscent of when Italy lifted the World Cup last July.
   The Corriere dello Sport was unerring in its praise for Milan.
   ‘Eleven months after the World Cup, Italian football has taken the Champions League again thanks to an extraordinary Milan through strength, character, quality, intelligence, personality,’ read Alessandro Vocalelli’s lead story.
   Italian soccer has been shaken by last season’s match-fixing scandal, which led to Juventus being demoted to the second division and Milan nearly missing out on this season’s Champions League because of points deductions.
   The death of a policeman during riots outside a match in Catania in February further dented the country’s love of football but Milan’s achievement, coupled with Italy’s reign as world champions, has provided a perfect tonic.
   A quote from club president Silvio Berlusconi was prominent on Gazzetta’s front page and summed up the mood.
   ‘We have won for us and for Italy. Pippo had promised me the goals. We are the strongest team out of everyone in the last 20 years. And now I am ready to present the fans with a big acquisition,’ he said.
   Talk of Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon joining the club has largely been dismissed but Milan would snap up Barcelona’s Ronaldinho if he became available and are keen to take Andriy Shevchenko back from Chelsea.

With three World Cups behind him and 36 international goals to his name, Michael Owen may have felt that his days of proving himself in an England shirt were nothing but a distant memory.
   Yet when England’s B team lines up against Albania at Burnley’s Turf Moor today, the Newcastle United forward will be aiming to show once and for all that he is fit, ready to reclaim his billing as one of the world’s deadliest strikers and finally ready to emerge from an 18-month injury nightmare.
   A broken metatarsal suffered against Tottenham Hotspur on New Year’s Eve 2005 sidelined the former Liverpool and Real Madrid star for almost five months and cast a huge question mark over his chances of making Sven-Goran Eriksson’s England squad for the World Cup.
   But having overcome that major setback to win a place on the plane to Germany, Owen’s career lay in ruins again by the end of the group stage as a result of the cruciate ligament injury suffered in the 2-2 draw with Sweden in Cologne.
   It was a serious injury, one that had many fearing for Owen’s long-term future in the game and the 26-year-old spent over nine months on the sidelines before making his Newcastle comeback in the Premiership clash against Reading on April 30.
   With England struggling to make headway in their Euro 2008 qualifying group, though, head coach Steve McClaren admits that Owen’s return to fitness is a major boost—despite insisting that the striker will need time to readjust to the international game.
   McClaren said: ‘I think the likes of Michael Owen will be like a new signing because he has proved over the years that he scores vital goals.
   ‘He scores goals out of nothing, he scores goals when the team is probably not playing well and every successful team needs a goalscorer like that.
   ‘I don’t think anybody expects a lot from him, though. It’s just great to have him back, involved and playing.
   ‘But let’s give him time and let’s be patient because the majority of the time it does take a while to get your timing back, to get the runs back. Looking at Michael, though, he looks very fit and very sharp.
   ‘His return from injury is obviously a massive boost, though. It’s almost a year since he picked up the injury in Germany and any side at international level would miss a player with Michael’s goalscoring pedigree.’
   McClaren is set to use the friendly clash against Albania’s senior team as an opportunity to test out up-and-coming players that have impressed in the Premiership this season such as Blackburn’s David Bentley, Sheffield United’s Phil Jagielka and Everton defender Joleon Lescott.
   The Preston North End striker David Nugent is also in the squad after netting on his senior debut against Andorra in March and McClaren admits that the game gives the fringe players a chance to force their way into his plans for the June 1 friendly against Brazil and the Euro 2008 clash against Estonia in Tallinn on June 6.
   He said: ‘The B game will provide a good opportunity for a lot of players. It’s the first time I’ve called up David Bentley, Joleon Lescott, Nicky Shorey and Phil Jagielka, and they have earned the call. They have all played very well for their clubs this season.’

Italian car horns honked long into the night on Wednesday in celebration of AC Milan’s seventh European Cup triumph, even if many Rossoneri fans accepted that Liverpool had dominated the final.
   Milan’s main square, Piazza del Duomo, was packed with supporters who watched the 2-1 victory on a giant screen.
   Without an Inter fan in sight, the main square became a giant dancefloor complete with mini-bonfires and fireworks. Fans also whizzed round the city on mopeds with flags draped round their shoulders, blowing their horns as loud as possible.
   ‘We did not play very well and maybe Liverpool had more chances but it is not important because we deserve to win
   after everything that has happened,’ AC Milan fan Fabio Mauro said.
   European soccer’s governing body UEFA had been reluctant to let Milan take part in this season’s Champions League after their role in last season’s match-fixing scandal in Italy.
   Meanwhile, Liverpool fans wept and then stood proudly defiant after their defeat.
   In bars in the centre of the northern English city, fans held aloft flags and scarves and sang their traditional anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ after Liverpool went down 2-1 despite creating most of the chances at the Olympic Stadium.
    Red-shirted supporters cried as they sang while their team’s players collected runners-up medals at the end of the match.
   ‘We played so well but it just wasn’t enough,’ student Lucy Holland-Rathmill said after the game.
   Briefly, it seemed a repeat of Liverpool’s stunning 2005 comeback—when they scored three goals in the second half and beat Milan on penalties in Istanbul—might be possible as Dirk Kuyt scored to make it 2-1 in the 89th minute.
   But this time the Italians, who had no doubt learned their lesson, held on to win their seventh European Cup.
   ‘I am gutted but I am also very proud,’ said web designer Chris Dennett, aged 28,
   speaking above the din in Aldo’s, a city centre bar owned by former Liverpool striker John Aldridge.
   ‘All that went wrong is that in the last half hour we looked tired but I’m not going to blame them (the players),’ he added.
   Dejected fans sat on the kerbside, singing into their flags.
   ‘We didn’t deserve to go down 1-0 at halftime,’ said Liverpool supporter Damian Rogers after striker Filippo Inzaghi deflected the ball past Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina just before the break. ‘AC Milan didn’t have many attacks worth mentioning.’
   Before the match, fans had thronged the city centre’s pubs and bars, many wearing Steven Gerrard masks handed out by a local newspaper and being photographed in the sunshine by bemused tourists.
   Business manager Chris Burt, 50, said he had travelled up from Dorset in southern England to see the game.
   ‘There’s always an element of luck and in the end Milan were the better side,’ he said after Inzaghi’s goals in the 45th and 82nd minutes secured victory for Milan.

Samuel Eto’o hopes Arsenal forward Thierry Henry will sign for Barcelona this summer.
    The Gunners’ all-time top scorer was heavily linked with a move to the Spanish champions last summer, but eventually committed himself to the North London outfit by signing a new contract.
   However, speaking at an event run by the feelfootball website on Tuesday, Eto’o said he was disappointed that Henry opted to stay in London when the player had seemed certain to move to the Nou Camp.
   ‘We were ready to welcome him with open arms. We would have been really happy had he come and we would have had a great team...we still have a great team, but it would have been special,’ he said.
   The Cameroon forward said he would have relished the prospect of playing up front with Henry, but is not sure if the team could fit another attacking player into their already impressive array of forwards.
   ‘I don’t know if we (Ronaldinho, Messi, Henry and Eto’o himself) could all play together. That is the coach’s job. The coach decides who to sign and how the team will play. All I know is that I want the best players in my team and Henry is one of the best,’ he said. Asked whether he believes a deal for the Arsenal star is still possible, Eto’o said he remains hopeful the transfer can go ahead this summer.
   ‘I hope so, I really do. Obviously it is nothing to do with me, but I would be delighted if he came to play here,’ he said.
   In a recent interview with FourFourTwo magazine, Eto’o was asked which three forwards he admired and replied ‘Thierry Henry, Thierry Henry and Thierry Henry.’
   ‘He’s a great player. He’s number one of the great players. Great players score goals, they make a difference. For me is above everybody,’ he said.
   Henry signed a lucrative new contract last summer, tying him to the Gunners for the rest of his career, but has reportedly grown disillusioned after the team’s poor season, in which they finished in fourth place for the second year running, 21 points behind champions Manchester United.

Premier League champions Manchester United Thursday bowed to pressure from the Asian Football Confederation and called off their planned match in Malaysia in July.
   The decision followed talks here Wednesday between AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam, Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards and Manchester United chief executive David Gill.
   ‘This match is a key element of the Malaysian government’s celebrations of its 50 years of independence and presents a marvellous opportunity for us to play in front of our many Malaysian fans,’ United said in a statement.
   ‘Unfortunately, new information has come to the club’s attention concerning the FAM’s (Football Association of Malaysia’s) agreement with the AFC to act as host for the Asian Cup, which means the club cannot play the game without the official approval of the AFC.’
   United said the only way the match could go ahead was if the AFC changed its mind.
   An AFC official Thursday told AFP its position remained unchanged—that the match cannot take place while the Asian Cup is on from July 7-29.
   All four Asian Cup host nations—Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam—made pledges to the AFC that they would not hold or promote any other football matches during the flagship tournament.
   Bin Hammam has warned the FAM it faces ‘wide-ranging legal repercussions’ for failing to toe the AFC line, although he has not made clear what they might be.
   His fear is that a club of United’s magnitude would draw attention away from the region’s most prestigious football tournament, held every four years.
   However, the rest of United’s Asia tour to South Korea, Japan and Macau is set to go ahead despite AFC calls for it to be postponed.
   The Malaysian climbdown, though, is a victory for the AFC, which had the backing of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, and a slap in the face for the FAM and the government, which invited United as part of their independence celebrations.
   ‘We are sad if they are not coming,’ Malaysian Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor told AFP.
   ‘We have already spoken to the AFC a couple of times, but the trouble with the AFC is that they are not compromising. The final is not even played in Malaysia so I am confused and upset.’
   The minister added that the government was attempting to reach the club and talk to them.
   ‘We’ve got to find out why they are not coming. I have not spoken to them. As far as the government is concerned, we want them to come.’
   Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi earlier this month called for the match to go ahead. His son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin, an influential political leader, Thursday urged the AFC to reconsider.
   ‘If Hammam is unwilling to agree to this request, it will be a tremendous insult to the government of Malaysia which houses the AFC headquarters and has been a strong supporter of AFC and Asian football in general,’ Khairy told the state Bernama news agency.
   FAM deputy president Tengku Abdullah said the body had attempted to reach an amicable solution.
   ‘In fact, I requested that United come two days later but they said it’s not possible,’ he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.
   ‘There is nothing much we can do at this point in time.’
   United have fixed a friendly against Inter Milan at Old Trafford on August 1 and are unable to reschedule the match for after the Asian Cup. They then take on Chelsea in the season-opening Community Shield on August 5.
   They now kick off their pre-season commercial tour against J-League champions Urawa Red Diamonds on July 17 before a showdown with FC Seoul on July 20. The team then travel to Macau for a match against Shenzhen on July 23.

Clarence Seedorf, who became the first player to pick up a fourth winners medal since the start of the Champions League era 15 years ago, was elated by Milan’s 2-1 triumph in the final over Liverpool on Wednesday.
   ‘I’m so proud to be part of this team, we worked very hard this year. It was a very hard year but at the end hard work makes it happen,’ he said.
   ‘It wasn’t the best we’ve played, but we concentrated and we knew we couldn’t make any mistakes against them because they’re very clinical. We deserved to win. It’s a great feeling to have the fourth cup behind my name.’
   Seedorf was one of seven players in Milan’s starting lineup beaten by Liverpool in the final on penalties in Istanbul two years ago, and the only player to win the European Cup with three clubs—Ajax Amsterdam in 1995, Real Madrid in 1998 and Milan in 2000 and now 2007.
   Another man who has won the European Cup also had an emotional night—former Juventus midfielder and now UEFA president Michel Platini.
   Platini, who was in the Juve side that won the trophy against Liverpool on the night of the Heysel Stadium disaster 22 years ago, told Reuters: ‘For me it was very emotional tonight.
   ‘I did not lift the cup here in Athens in 1983 when I was in the losing Juventus side to Hamburg SV so it has taken me 24 years to lift it here—and give it to Milan.
   ‘It was a very difficult, intense and close match , but now I am (UEFA) president I cannot say whether I think the best team won. It was a very emotional night though.’
   Arsene Wenger, manager of the Arsenal team beaten in last year’s final by Barcelona in Paris, said: ‘It was similar to last year’s game because, like us, Liverpool dominated but things went against them at the wrong moment and this becomes a mental blow.
   ‘Milan were solid and composed in the second half and they did the minimum to get the maximum. Liverpool deserved to be ahead at halftime and, on the face of it, should have won.’

The agent and father of Chelsea forward Arjen Robben has rekindled hopes of the Dutch international moving to German giants Bayern Munich by saying ‘anything is possible’ on Thursday.
   Hans Robben insists his son, who has two years left on his contract, and English giants Chelsea have yet to decide on his future and there is still a chance Arjen will come to Bayern this summer.
   ‘There is still the possibility that Arjen comes to Munich’, said Robben senior in German sports magazine Kicker, ‘provided Bayern can offer us a five year contract.’
   But the 23-year-old Dutchman international said at the start of the week he wanted to stay at Chelsea, even if he seems to have lost favour with Chelsea’s manager Jose Mourinho.
   ‘I’ve always said I want to stay. I will be here next season, that’s for sure,’ Robben was reported to have said only on Monday after playing a brief role in last Saturday’s FA Cup final 1-0 win over Manchester United.
   Since his 2004 arrival at Chelsea from PSV Eindhoven, Robben has played 51 Premier League matches in three seasons, scoring 16 goals, but has often been injured.
   And Bayern are eager to boost their squad after finishing fourth in the Bundesliga last season, their worst season since 1995, and are looking to raid the transfer market for fresh talent.
   The German giants are expected to allow English midfielder Owen Hargreaves to finally switch to Manchester United in a deal worth 25 million euro (33,600,000 US dollars).

Arsenal are not going to take up the option to turn Julio Baptista’s loan deal from Real Madrid into a permanent move, the Brazilian attacking midfielder has said.
   ‘Arsenal have told me they are not able to buy me and so all I can do is return to Real Madrid,’ Baptista told sports daily Marca on Thursday, in a telephone interview from New York.
   The 25-year-old international moved to London last August in a one-year loan swap, with Arsenal’s Jose Antonio Reyes moving in the opposite direction.
   The deal included an option for the clubs to buy the respective players at the end of the season but neither man has consistently impressed during the loan period.
   ‘I have enjoyed my season with Arsenal and in England. I adapted well. I didn’t play much at first but finished much better. The first year is very difficult,’ Baptista said.
   ‘The English league is very strong and very competitive with great teams. Manchester United and Chelsea are very strong and it is difficult to compete against their great squads.’
   In Baptista’s absence, Real have come from behind to grab first place in the Primera Liga and with three games left are on course for their first major trophy in four seasons.
   ‘I speak a lot with Robinho and Roberto Carlos and I have wished them all the best for the league. If I am honest I am a little jealous I can’t be with them playing for the title,’ he said.
   ‘I am keen to know what happens in the last three games and hope they go on to win.’

Filippo Inzaghi justified Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to go for trusted experience rather than youthful vigour by scoring both goals in AC Milan’s 2-1 Champions League final win over Liverpool.
   The 33-year-old striker got the nod ahead of Alberto Gilardino to spearhead Milan’s attack, and the reliable veteran didn’t let the side down, steering the Italian giants to their seventh European crown with a precious double.
   Inzaghi, nicknamed SuperPippo, was ruled out of the 2005 Champions League final due to injury, and he watched in horror from the stands as Milan were beaten by Liverpool on penalties.
   This season Inzaghi’s appearances have been limited by more injury problems, but his full recovery several months ago was music to the ears of coach Ancelotti.
   Inzaghi, who is nine years older than Gilardino, never stopped believing that he would play an important part in Milan’s season, which began with a two-legged third round qualifier to reach the Champions League back in August.
   ‘I am an optimist and always believe in myself,’ said the former Italy international who helped Milan to victory in the 2003 Champions League final.
   ‘Obviously this night is deeply rewarding for me, and the most important thing was that we won the cup.
   ‘I’ve had my injury problems this season, but nobody doubted I would come back. There is a lot of trust in me at this club.’
   Milan’s first goal seconds before half-time went down as Inzaghi’s, but he must have known little about it – Andrea Pirlo’s free-kick hitting him on the shoulder and completely wrong-footing Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina.
   His second goal eight minutes from time was typical Inzaghi, springing Liverpool’s offside trap with a superbly-timed run to collect Kaka’s pass before rounding Reina and slotting home.
   Dirk Kuyt pulled one back for Liverpool a minute from time with a close-range header, but Milan held on to lift the trophy.
   Inzaghi insisted his first goal wasn’t down to good fortune.
   ‘It’s something we’ve worked on in training and every now and again it’s been successful,’ he said, tongue firmly in cheek.
   Milan owner Sivio Berlusconi insisted he knew Inzaghi would find the target.
   ‘I told Inzaghi before the match that he was guaranteed to score,’ said the former Italian prime minister.
   Inzaghi, whose brace took his career tally in the Champions League to 38 goals, said he was looking forward to the summer break after a long season.
   ‘Don’t forget we were on the pitch on August 9 for the preliminary round,’ he said.
   ‘I will take a well-earned rest over the summer, as I didn’t have any real holiday this year. It will be a very enjoyable time.’
   Many questioned whether Milan should even be allowed in the competition due to their involvement in the Italian match-fixing scandal, but AC Milan president Adriano Galliani insisted they were worthy of their place.
   ‘It’s an immense joy after everything this club has been through this season,’ he said.
   ‘We deserve this for all the effort everybody has put in.’

‘I don’t know why it is, but I always seem to play well against British sides,’ Kaka had observed before Wednesday’s Champions League final. Liverpool can’t say they were not warned.
   Having accounted for Celtic with an extra-time winner in the first knockout round, the brilliant Brazilian had almost single-handedly dismantled Manchester United’s ambitions in the tournament with three superbly taken goals over the two legs of the semi-final.
   There were no goals in the Olympic Stadium on Wednesday night but Kaka’s contribution was every bit as telling as it had been against both Celtic and United.
   After winning the free-kick that led to Filippo Inzaghi’s first goal of the night, he rounded off his evening by delivering the superbly-judged pass that allowed Milan’s veteran goal poacher to apply the killer touch, eight minutes before the end.
   It will be a contribution Kaka will savour as much as he suffered two years ago, when he ripped Liverpool apart to inspire Milan to a 3-0 half-time lead only to see Rafael Benitez’s side rally to win on penalties.
   Benitez had insisted before the match that there would be no special provisions in place for the brilliant Brazilian.
   But Liverpool’s line-up nevertheless reflected a nervousness about the damage Kaka can inflict on sides who neglect to ensure his supply is cut off at source.
   With Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso deployed in front of his back four, Benitez’s objective was to ensure the time and space available to him when he did get on the ball was squeezed to a minimum.
   For a quarter of an hour, everything appeared to be going to plan, Liverpool looking dangerous going forward while Mascherano and Alonso appeared to be doing a good job of policing Milan’s most potent creative force.
   Kaka is rarely kept that quiet for long and, sure enough, he was about to deliver a reminder of the sublime technique that had helped him claim ten goals, more than anyone else in the competition, on the road to Athens.
   As he leaned back to receive Marek Jankulovski’s cross on his chest, Kaka had Mascherano standing only two feet in front of him.
   It was to no avail: the instant the ball had dropped to the turf it had been swept to the side of the Argentinian and the opening for a shot which drew a fine save from Jose Reina had been created.
   Kaka was up and running and Liverpool’s defenders were struggling to keep up.
   Daniel Agger was fortunate not to be booked after resorting to a crude body check after the Brazilian had turned away from him at full pace and with balletic grace, while another dancer’s pirouette left John Arne Riise lunging at clean air.
   The trickery was finally to produce a result, one minute before half-time, when he was brought down by Alonso on the edge of the area, securing a free-kick which Andrea Pirlo was to deposit into the net with the help of a deflection off the shoulder of Inzaghi.
   With Liverpool pushing forward for much of the second half, Kaka demonstrated his readiness to shoulder his share of the defensive burden.
   But when the chance came, he still had the presence of mind to slide a perfectly weighted pass between two Liverpool defenders, allowing Inzaghi to beat the offside trap, go round Reina and make sure the European Cup was on its way back to Milan for the seventh time.

Steven Gerrard insisted Liverpool would bounce back from the agony of their Champions League final defeat by AC Milan as manager Rafael Benitez warned the club’s new owners that major investment is required this summer to keep his side moving forward.
   Reflecting on the lessons of a 2-1 defeat in the Olympic Stadium, Benitez acknowledged that Liverpool could not compete with the quality and experience in the Milanese squad.
   ‘You could see how hard the players were working out there,’ he said. ‘It is not easy to achieve more things. If we want to be close to Manchester United and Chelsea (in the Premiership) and go to another final of the Champions League, maybe we need to go forward two steps at a time.’
   The need for additional investment by Liverpool’s American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, was also a theme touched on by Gerrard, Liverpool’s captain who is set to commit his remaining peak years to the club by signing a new contract in the next few weeks.
   ‘We have had setbacks before but you have got to be a man and take it on the chin,’ Gerrard said.
   ‘This will hurt me for a long time. But as the captain I have got to look forward. We need to get this out of our system and bounce back quickly.
   ‘Next season the league has to be our priority. The future’s bright, the people in charge want to take us to the next level and it is really exciting.
   ‘Since the takeover we have all felt the optimism. We know we need to strengthen the team but I don’t think there will be major changes.
   ‘We can be proud of ourselves. We’ve done so well getting to the final and I know we’ll play in another one of these finals.
   ‘We’ve got to pick ourselves up, have a good rest in the summer and then go again next season.
   ‘We’re going places, there’s no getting away from that.’
   Liverpool surprised Milan with their attacking verve in the first-half and would have levelled the tie if Gerrard had been able to beat Milan goalkeeper Dida in a one-on-one situation just after the hour mark.
   ‘I think we controlled in the first-half but not as much as we would have liked in the second-half – but let’s not forget that we were playing a top side with top players,’ he added.
   ‘Credit to AC Milan – they won and maybe they just about deserved it. In the build-up
   to the game we said it would
   be decided on small details and a bit of luck and AC Milan got that.
   ‘We need to strengthen and bring some quality into the club. The manager and the people in charge of the club know that and it will be an interesting summer.’

Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat by AC Milan in the Champions League final was due to a controversial opening goal that came off the arm of striker Filippo Inzaghi, British media reported on Thursday.
   ‘Armed Robbery’ was the front page headline in The Sun newspaper which said Liverpool’s Champions League dream was ‘cruelly shattered’ by Inzaghi’s deflected opening goal on the stroke of half-time at the Olympic Stadium in Athens on Wednesday.
   Inzaghi, who also scored a fine second goal for Milan in the 82nd minute, ran into the path of Andrea Pirlo’s free-kick to send the ball past goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who was wrong-footed by the deflection that put Milan ahead.
   ‘Robbed by the hand of Zag’ was The Daily Mirror’s front page headline next to a picture of Inzaghi being clearly hit on the arm by the ball that gave Milan a fortunate lead.
   The Daily Express headline said, ‘Inzaghi ruins Athens Dream’ and the paper reflected that ‘it was a cruel blow from which the Reds never recovered and gave Milan the revenge they craved after losing this trophy to Steven Gerrard’s men in Turkey...’
   The front page of The Times said simply ‘Heartbreak’, the paper reporting that two years after the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’– when Liverpool recovered from 3-0 down to force a 3-3 draw and victory on penalties – Milan got their revenge.
   ‘Liverpool were left to reflect on a Greek tragedy last night as their hopes of lifting a sixth European Cup were ended by a Milan team whose thirst for revenge was sated with a win that led to tears of joy and despair at the Olympic Stadium.’
   The Daily Telegraph opted like most of the papers for a picture of dejected Liverpool captain Gerrard under the front page headline ‘Greek tragedy for Liverpool’.
   ‘Liverpool’s drive towards the European cup ended on a hard shoulder here last night, Filippo Inzaghi’s bony upper arm causing the English real pain,’ reported the broadsheet paper.
   ‘Like the monsoon that briefly drenched Athens, disappointment swept through the ambitious emissaries from Anfield,’ the Telegraph added.
   The Guardian ran the headline ‘Liverpool have bravery but no breaks as Inzaghi inflicts Milan’s revenge’, adding ‘This was revenge for Milan as they atoned for the famous fiasco against Liverpool in 2005 but neither club last night struck the heights they had attained in the past two months’.

Carlo Ancelotti claimed AC Milan had restored the credibility of Italian football after watching his side ruthlessly crush Liverpool’s dream of a second Champions League title in three years.
   Filippo Inzaghi’s double strike ensured club football’s most coveted trophy headed back to Milan for the seventh time, after a triumphant finale to a season which started with the club being docked eight points for their involvement in Italy’s match-fixing scandal.
   Only a successful appeal against an initial, heavier, penalty enabled Milan to enter the Champions League at all and they were forced to begin their campaign in the final qualifying round.
   And in the depths of winter, as local rivals Internazionale ran away with the league, even Ancelotti’s future at the club appeared to be in doubt.
   ‘It is the greatest victory we have had,’ the Milan coach said. ‘Few believed we could do it, but we have actually done something extraordinary that very few people, perhaps nobody, expected.
   ‘People talk about utopia but sometimes it helps to be a bit utopian. Italian football suffered a lot because of the scandal and especially Milan.
   ‘This is an important victory for Italian football, we got back some our credibility.’
   Ancelotti went on to claim that he never took seriously the mid-season rumours that he could be on his way out of the club he also served with distinction as a player.
   ‘Football is like that,’ he said. ‘I was not particularly bothered by the rumours I would be replaced in November or December. My job means that when things don’t go well, you can pay a price.’
   He also discounted suggestions that this summer could see him depart in search of a new challenge. ‘My market value has increased but my relationship with Milan is very strong,’ he said. ‘I feel I belong to the club, I’ve played in the shirt and won trophies as a coach – that makes my relation strong.’
   Liverpool’s chances of pulling off a repeat of their 2005 victory over Ancelotti’s men were dealt a severe blow by Milan’s opening goal, an Andrea Pirlo free-kick that beat Jose Reina with the help of a deflection off Inzaghi’s shoulder.
   The striker had no hesitation in claiming the credit for the goal. ‘Of course we worked on that in training and sometimes it comes off,’ he said, apparently with tongue in cheek.
   With Liverpool obliged to chase the game after half-time, Milan were always likely to unpick them on the counter-attack and Kaka duly sent Inzaghi through to kill the game eight minutes from time.
   Dirk Kuyt, who had been superbly shackled by Alessandro Nesta up until then, responded with a headed goal but with only two minutes left and three curtailed minutes of added-on time, there was to be no heroic comeback as there had been in Istanbul two years ago.
   Reds boss Rafael Benitez was enraged by the paucity of added-on time but played down his touchline explosion afterwards.
   ‘I don’t want to use this as an excuse,’ the Spaniard said. ‘We were playing well until we conceded the first goal but after we had to go forward a little bit more and we were leaving spaces behind and they have players with the quality to make the difference.
   ‘Congratulations to AC Milan. They are a good team, a very good team. But I also want to say a thank you to our supporters, my staff and players because I think they deserved a little bit more.
   ‘We were controlling the game, going forward and creating chances but we conceded a bad goal at a bad time.’
   With just under an hour gone, Benitez introduced Harry Kewell but he proved no more effective than the man he replaced, Bolo Zenden, and the manager rejected suggestions he should have been bolder and started with the Australian winger rather than packing five men across his midfield.
   ‘Kewell could not play a long time, he was ten months without playing. Milan are well organised in defence and good on counter-attack. When you try to attack you have to keep a balance and not leave big spaces behind. When you lose the balance against them they just need one opportunity and they will kill you.’
   Ancelotti acknowledged that Milan’s opening goal had been the lucky break his side needed against opponents who posed them far more problems than Manchester United had in the semi-final.
   ‘Liverpool did not let us play the way we wanted in the first-half. Our midfielders were under pressure and we did not get the ball to Kaka and Clarence Seedorf as much as we wanted.
   ‘But this is a tough team and we managed a difficult situation quite well.’

Andriy Shevchenko’s stay at Chelsea appeared even closer to ending on Tuesday after his wife spoke of a return to Milan.
   The Ukrainian’s American wife Kristen used an interview with Italian fashion magazine Chi to make it clear she wants to go back to Italy.
   Chelsea will not let the £30m flop go for a knock-down price, but Shevchenko’s wife, the prime force in his move to England, is keen to go back ‘home’. She said, ‘Milan is our city and where we want to be. It would be wonderful for Andriy to go back to Milan and play with Ronaldo.’
   Meanwhile, AC Milan skipper also has a vision for next season – the return of Andriy Shevchenko from Chelsea.
   Maldini told The Sun, ‘Every player who leaves Milan always regrets his decision. But the club never forgets a player who has given so much to the shirt.
   ‘No grudges are held at Milan. This philosophy means anyone can come back and Sheva all the more so.
   ‘He would certainly be made as welcome as ever.’
   Shevchenko has been told he can move back to the Italian club, where he spent seven successful years, after failing to live up to expectations in his first season in the Premier League.
   AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said this month that a space would be kept open in the squad for the player should he decide to return to the Italian side.
   He said, ‘Sheva remains in our hearts, he and his wife have been invited to Athens to follow the Champions League final.
   ‘As for the future, let’s see, he is a Chelsea player.
   ‘Anyway, he knows we will keep a place open for a few months seeing as, after his marriage, Kaka has freed up a non-European Union place.’
   Maldini, who has 126 caps, is expected to sign a new-one year contract at 38.
   He admits defeat by Liverpool in the final two years ago still sticks in his throat.
   Maldini said, ‘It is something I have still not digested – we deserved to win and we lost.’
   Elsewhere, Andriy Shevchenko’s management company has played down the significance of an invitation from AC Milan for the Ukrainian to attend Wednesday’s Champions League final in Athens as their guest.
    ‘Andriy is not in talks of any kind with AC Milan,’ said a WMG spokesperson in a statement. ‘He has a contract with Chelsea and that is the end of the matter.
   ‘AC Milan has invited a whole host of former players to this showpiece match and Andriy is just one of those players. There is nothing else to it and he will decide whether to attend tomorrow.’

IT is 58 days since the American owners of Liverpool completed their £450 million takeover.
   Never in their wildest dreams could George Gillett and Tom Hicks have imagined what would happen in those two months.
   Both men thought that soccer was the game played by girls and college kids in the States, and Liverpool was the home of the Beatles.
   On the day they took control at Anfield, they confessed that they only bought into English football because they were attracted by the telephone numbers being thrown about by TV companies in return for broadcast rights.
   But even on that historic day on March 27, 2007, when they finally bought all the shares in Liverpool, something began to happen to both men. They experienced the pull of Liverpool’s name, and the passion of the Kop...and they became intoxicated by what they saw.
   Since assuming control, Hicks and Gillett have witnessed the humbling of Barcelona in the Nou Camp, and then the destruction of Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final at Anfield, set to a rabid soundtrack from the fans that neither of them have ever heard before.
   In the States, fans get excited, but rarely do they make any noise.
   So the songs and the deafening wall of sound at Anfield was a new experience.
   And according to Gillett it is one that he and his business partner have fallen in love with.
   ‘We have seen some things, the win in Barcelona and then the crowd for the return against them at Anfield, and it was incredible,’ he explained.
   ‘But after the semi-final against Chelsea at Anfield, I was speechless.
   It was like attending the greatest sports event you can ever go to...on steroids. Nothing can compare to that.
   ‘When we bought the club, I simply couldn’t imagine the kind of experiences we have had in such a short space of time.
   ‘David Moores told me I have to understand what it was like and what I was getting into, and I would nod and say “yes we understand”.
   ‘But neither myself or my son Foster or the Hicks family really did.
   ‘This is so much bigger and so much more important to so many people than we could ever have imagined, and we have been absolutely knocked out by what we’ve got into.’
   Never can a takeover of a club have been met with such instant dividends as those enjoyed by the Americans.
   Third place in the Premiership has also been secured and according to Gillett the money will be there to boost Liverpool’s title push.
   ‘We believe that when we have finished, Liverpool will be the place everyone wants to be.
   ‘We know what we have got into, and we finally understand how big it is, and how exciting it is, and we intend to build on that,’ he said.

German captain Michael Ballack returned to the German squad on Tuesday for next month’s two Euro 2008 qualifiers after being out injured but national coach Joachim Low was not optimistic that he would start either match.
   Low said that the Chelsea midfielder wanted to play in one of the two qualifiers against San Marino and Slovakia next month but had yet to start training after undergoing an ankle operation.
   Ballack, who has not played for last weekend’s FA Cup winners Chelsea for a month, was called up along with Per Mertesacker and Mario Gomez, who have also recovered from injury.
   ‘Michael would like to play, at least in the second match, but we are not going to take any risks with him,’ admitted Low, who was assistant to Jurgen Klinsmann as Germany reached last year’s World Cup semi-finals.
   ‘He will resume training next Tuesday when the squad comes together.’
   Should Ballack fail to recover full fitness for the two matches then Miroslav Klose will take on the captain’s armband, though, the normally prolific striker has been dreadfully out of form since the turn of the year scoring just twice in the Bundesliga. Low will, however, have to do without the injured trio of striker Lukas Podolski and midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger and Tim Borowski, who are all sidelined with knee injuries, for the matches on June 2 and June 6. Germany lead Group D with 13 points, equal on points with the Czech Republic and the Republic of Ireland, who have played one and two matches more respectively.
   Squad
   Goalkeepers: Jens Lehmann, Timo Hildebrand; Defenders: Gonzalo Castro, Manuel Friedrich, Clemens Fritz, Per Mertesacker, Philipp Lahm, Christoph Metzelder, Marcell Jansen; Midfielders: Michael Ballack, Torsten Frings, Roberto Hilbert, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Simon Rolfes, Bernd Schneider, Jan Schlaudraff, Piotr Trochowski; Strikers: Mario Gomez, Patrick Helmes, Miroslav Klose, Kevin Kuranyi.

French World Cup star Franck Ribery and Portuguese midfielder Ricardo Quaresma top the list of players Bayern Munich want to sign to reverse their fortunes after a poor season, a report said on Wednesday.
   Bayern’s bosses believe they can tempt Ribery, who is currently with French club Marseille, although the midfielder has said he would prefer a move to England or Spain, Sport-Bild magazine said, quoting club sources.
   Although Bayern also pursued 24-year-old Ribery after he helped France reach the World Cup final in Germany last year, FC Porto’s Quaresma is a new name on Bayern’s list.
   Quaresma, 23, is also attracting interest from the English Premiership and Spanish club Atletico Madrid.
   Other targets are Arjen Robben, the flying Dutch winger who has struggled to hold down a first-team place at English Premiership giants Chelsea.
   One barrier to recruiting big name stars is the fact that Bayern failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 11 years as they finished fourth in the Bundesliga behind newly crowned champions VfB Stuttgart.
   Italian international striker Luca Toni is definitely expected to join Bayern from Fiorentina for a fee of around 18 million euros, the report said.
   Toni’s imminent arrival was confirmed by club president Franz Beckenbauer who said the transfer was ‘on the right tracks’.
   Ze Roberto, the muscular Brazilian midfielder who left Bayern in 2006, is expected to return to the Allianz Arena to fill the hole created by the departure of Owen Hargreaves to Manchester United.
   And 21-year-old German international defender Marcell Jansen is almost certain to move to Bavaria after his club, Borussia Monchengladbach, were relegated this season.
   However, Bayern’s interest in Barcelona playmaker Deco has faded as the player has said he wants to stay at the Nou Camp.
   Meanwhile, one of Bayern’s young German stars, midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, has hit out at what he sees as the overly rigid approach of the club’s general manager Uli Hoeness.
   Schweinsteiger, 22, said he and fellow German international Lukas Podolski, who was voted the best young player of the World Cup, were not allowed to rest properly after the month-long tournament and that Hoeness then criticised them for resting on their laurels after some sub-standard performances in the Bundesliga.
   ‘One season everyone tells you that you’re a good player and a solid fixture in the team and then suddenly in the next what you’re doing isn’t enough,’ Schweinsteiger told the Muenchner Abendzeitung newspaper.
   ‘The World Cup was an exceptional event, but afterwards we were only given
   two and half weeks of holiday to rest.
   ‘Once the season began, it was match after match and it’s exhausting. I’m not looking for excuses but it could be one factor in explaining why we didn’t play so well.’

Paul Gascoigne had the perfect answer when Rino Gattuso needed calming down – a good slap.
   The AC Milan and Italy hardman used to get so fired up as a 19-year-old at Rangers that Gazza was frequently needed to knock some sense into him.
   Former Ibrox team-mate Brian Laudrup revealed to The Sun, ‘If you had told me 10 years ago Rino Gattuso would be the heartbeat of AC Milan, I’d have laughed at you.
   ‘He was a grumpy kid. He couldn’t speak English at first but just moaned in Italian.
   ‘And in training or games he was like the Tasmanian Devil.
   ‘Gazza had to give him a few slaps to calm him down. Mind you, Gazza did that to everybody.
   ‘But for all the faults and rough edges, I was glad Gattuso was on my team.’
   Within two years, the midfielder had sealed a move to Milan and now Denmark legend Laudrup reckons he will add a Champions League winner’s medal to his CV.
   Laudrup added, ‘Gattuso is a warrior. He is not the most technical player but has a work-rate and commitment you admire.
   ‘It is very difficult to find a better player in his position in the world now.
   ‘For the sake of football I hope Milan beat Liverpool. I want to see Milan on top again.’

Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o has dismissed speculation linking him with a big money move to the Premiership this summer.
   The 26 year-old Cameroon striker insists he has heard nothing of a possible transfer to the Premiership, despite newspaper reports in England linking the three-time African Footballer of the Year with a summer move to Liverpool.
   However, Eto’o did not rule out a move to the Premiership in future.
   ‘I have not heard anything. These kind of things are usually just speculation and don’t come through to me. I am happy at Barcelona and will definitely be here next season,’ he said at an event run by the www.feelfootball.com debate website on Tuesday.
   ‘I have no idea where I will be in a few years time, but at the moment I have a contract with Barcelona until 2010.
   ‘There have been so many lies written about me. In fact, I would say that 99.999 per cent of the things I have read about myself in the papers have been untrue.’
   Eto’o fell out with Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard earlier this season after refusing to come on as a late substitute against Racing Santander.
   However, the African forward insists he is happy at the Nou Camp and reiterated his desire to stay at Barcelona.
   ‘Like I said, I am happy here. There is no problem, no crisis. The press can write what they want, but I am staying,’ he added.

Darren Fletcher feels Owen Hargreaves will be a fantastic addition for Manchester United and has welcomed the added competition for midfield places at Old Trafford.
   Sir Alex Ferguson finally seems set to end his long quest for the England international by snaring him from Bayern Munich this summer.
   Hargreaves’ impending arrival strengthens Ferguson’s midfield options yet further, as he has the likes of Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes and Fletcher comfortable in the engine room. Scotland international Fletcher is a player likely to be under pressure, but he feels competition for places can only be good for the club.
   ‘Owen is a great player and it is a great signing,’ Fletcher
   told Sky Sports News. ‘Manchester United are always looking for great players and players to take us to the next level.
   ‘There is always going to be competition for places and I am sure he realises that in coming to Manchester United and he will be up for the challenge.
   ‘Paul Scholes is one of the best midfielders in the world and Michael Carrick has had a good season as well, so there is competition for places and you have to be ready for the battle.’

Rafael Benitez admitted he might need medical assistance if he has to sit through another Champions League final as dramatic as the one which ended with Liverpool side beating AC Milan two years ago.
   As he put the finishing touches to his side’s preparations for a final rematch with the Italian giants here on Wednesday, Liverpool’s Spanish coach was in relaxed and confident form, jovially playing down the chances of a repeat of that unforgettable night in Istanbul.
   Trailing 3-0 at half-time, Liverpool rallied to take the match into extra-time before claiming the club’s 5th European Cup on penalties.
   ‘That last final, two years ago, was amazing,’ he said.
   ‘For me it was the best final in the history of the competition. I don’t think we will see a game like this.
   ‘If you say to me, “do you want to see that game again?”, I will say ‘yes, if it is the same result.
   ‘If not I will have to see a doctor’.
   ‘I don’t think you will see a lot of goals.’
   Benitez claimed – not altogether convincingly – that midfielder Bolo Zenden was winning his battle to be fit for the final, following an ankle injury suffered in training last week.

West Ham’s Carlos Tevez has been offered to Chelsea in a deal that would cost the club £35 million.
   According to the Daily Express the Argentine striker could well move across London from Upton Park to Stamford Bridge after preliminary talks began between Chelsea and the player’s representatives.
   Tevez has returned to South America to be with his wife and family but the Hammers are still hopeful he will agree to stay with them for another season, especially given their Premiership survival.
   Kia Joorabchian is due to meet with West Ham chairman Eggert Magnusson this week about extending Tevez’ deal but with his stock now at an all-time high, the lure and financial power of the FA Cup winners might prove too much.
   Chelsea were offered Tevez last year but having seen what they missed out on, the board will be keen for him to be part of Jose Mourinho’s re-building process.
   On Tuesday Steve Sidwell became Mourinho’s first capture of the summer having joined from Reading on a free transfer and the coach is now believed to be after a striker with Tevez fitting the bill.

Bayern Munich have reportedly targeted Arsenal’s Robin van Persie for a shock £8 million summer switch.
   The Dutch striker was in great form this past season, top-scoring with 13 goals for the Gunners before a broken metatarsal prematurely ended his campaign in January.
   And Bayern are keen to bring van Persie to the Bundesliga as part of a major squad overhaul having failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
   The German giants have seemingly missed out on Chelsea’s Arjen Robben, who looks set to sign a new five-year deal at Stamford Bridge, but according to the Daily Mirror they’re now content to turn their attention to the Arsenal man.
   Bayern’s deputy chairman Karl-Heinz Rumenigge has promised ‘brutal and ruthless’ changes and the club will be armed with substantial funds following the imminent sale of Owen Hargreaves to Manchester United.
   Van Persie joined Arsenal for £2.75m from Feyenoord in 2004 and despite struggling at first with disciplinary problems, his potential looked like it was finally beginning to blossom before his latest injury.
   Arsene Wenger is understood to be unwilling to sell but Bayern are able to make a very tempting offer to both club and player.