As the anticipation and speculation gathers surrounding who will be England’s new manager, the list of contenders now contains an array of foreigners including two Germans, an Italian and a wily Portuguese.
   Jurgen Klinsmann, who led Germany to the World Cup semi-finals in 2006, has hinted he might be interested, his compatriot Bernd Schuster has reportedly been sounded out by the FA, while Italian veteran Fabio Capello is the bookies favourite.
   Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is also in the frame and a popular choice with the fans although the charismatic Portuguese coach has yet to deny or confirm he wants to step into one of the most difficult jobs in football.
   Steve McClaren was fired just hours after failing to qualify England for Euro 2008 and left to a barrage of criticism from fans and media alike.
   Former Tottenham star Klinsmann is the ideal candidate according to Franz Beckenbauer and the blonde haired icon has not ruled himself out.
   ‘When there are rumours linking me to this job, I must accept that and I do so without any problems,’ the former German international told German website Sport 1.
   ‘The conditions must be suitable,’ he added without giving more precision.
   Beckenbauer who coached Klinsmann to the 1990 World Cup title was even more enthusiastic.
   ‘The position of England coach is ideal for Jurgen and he would be perfect for England,’ Beckenbauer said in his weekly column in German tabloid Bild.
   Married to an American, Klinsmann ran into a storm of controversy in the build-up to the 2006 World Cup for a lack of convincing results and his desire to return to his California-home between matches.
   However he became a popular hero when his exciting brand of football created a wave of national fervour that helped carry Germany into the semi-finals where they were finally beaten by eventual champions Italy in extra-time.
   Schuster’s who replaced another top candidate for the post Fabio Capello at Real Madrid this season, has guided the Spanish giants to the top of La Liga and has been approached by the FA’s general director according to the Spanish press.
   ‘Last Thursday, Brian Barwick, the general director of the FA, made first contact with the current Real Madrid coach (Schuster), who he telephoned personally with the sole objective of knowing his reaction and his availability for the near future,’ Marca reported.
   Should Klinsmann or Schuster get the job, the announcement is certain to be met with criticism from some quarters that England have turned to a countryman from one of England’s greatest rivals.
   The rivalry between the two nations dates back to 1966 and the ‘was it or wasn’t it’ goal from Geoff Hurst that settled the World Cup final at Wembley.
   The two sides also played out an epic quarter-final four years later in Mexico when Beckenbauer inspired a come from behind win over Alf Ramsey’s defending champions.
   Their latest World Cup duel was in 1990 when Klinsmann was in the side coached by Beckenbauer that squeezed past Bobby Robson’s England on penalties in Turin.
   Capello has been installed as the favourite after openly expressing that he would be ‘fascinated’ by the challenge and it is hard to argue with the Italian’s track record.
   The 61-year-old has won a hatful of domestic and European titles while at the helm of AC Milan, AS Roma and of course Real Madrid where he was sacked and replaced by Schuster despite guiding the club to La Liga crown.
   ‘I am ready’ he says.
   A number of home-grown managers have distanced themselves from the post including Aston Villa’s Northern Irish manager Martin O’Neill and Newcastle’s Sam Allardcyce.
   Mourinho is still lurking in the shadows and would be a popular appointment although there has been no denial or confirmation from the former Chelsea boss on where his stance lies.
   His former captain John Terry thinks it would be ‘fantastic’ to play under Mourinho again and added: ‘Jose is a fantastic manager and I would like to work with him again,’ he told Chelsea tv.

Pakistan (231 & 212/5) lead India (276) by 167 runs at stumps, day 3
   Anil Kumble led a disciplined spin attack to keep India’s hopes alive in an evenly poised opening Test against Pakistan at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here on Saturday.
   The new captain dismissed the top three batsmen to restrict Pakistan to 212-5 in the second innings. The tourists are now 167 ahead with five wickets in hand after conceding a 45-run lead.
   Misbah-ul-Haq (29) and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal (21), the last pair of specialist batsmen, were at the crease when bad light stopped play on the third day.
   Pakistan will expect more from this duo to boost their chances of setting a challenging fourth-innings total on a wearing pitch. The pair have so far added 51 for the unbroken sixth wicket.
   Misbah tried to ease the pressure with his bold hitting, striking two sixes in an over from off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. He was lucky to survive on one when Wasim Jaffer failed to hold a sharp chance at short-leg off Kumble.
   Leg-spinner Kumble was well backed by Harbhajan, who took two wickets to help his team reduce Pakistan from a comfortable 114-1 to 161-5.
   ‘We are capable of chasing any target because we have quality and experienced batsmen in our side,’ said Harbhajan.
   ‘I think we have a good chance of winning. Kumble has already done very well here and he brought us back into the match with the first two wickets. I don’t think the wicket will change much in the next two days.’
   Pakistani leg-spinner Danish Kaneria earlier denied India a big lead with three wickets in 15 balls to finish with 4-59.
   India were bowled out for 276 in reply to Pakistan’s 231 after resuming at 228-6, with middle-order batsman Venkatsai Laxman remaining unbeaten with 72 off 135 balls with eight fours.
   Pakistan neutralised India’s slender advantage when left-handed Salman Butt (67) and Yasir Hameed (36) put on 71 for the opening wicket.
   But Kumble restored India’s fortunes when he had Hameed caught by a diving Laxman at silly mid-off in his opening spell before accounting for Younis Khan (23) and a well-set Butt.
   The Indian captain, who finished with four wickets in the first innings, continued to trouble the Pakistani batsmen with clever variations on a slow turning track.
   Kumble trapped Younis leg-before and then had Butt caught driving by Rahul Dravid at lone slip.
   Butt was the most impressive Pakistani batsman as he dominated the Indian attack with rich strokeplay for more than a session, hitting 11 fours in his fifth half-century.
   ‘The match is evenly poised at this stage,’ said Butt.
   ‘A target of more than 300 is always difficult to chase in the fourth innings, especially on a wearing surface. The ball is already keeping low and slow on this pitch.’
   Harbhajan also kept pressure on the Pakistani batsmen as he held a return catch to dismiss Mohammad Yosuf (18) and then removed skipper Shoaib Malik (11).
   Laxman, 57 overnight, and Kumble defied the Pakistani attack for more than an hour in the morning session before Kaneria struck in quick succession.
   Kaneria broke a 54-run stand for the seventh wicket when he had Kumble (24) caught by Younis at first slip. The Indian skipper added 17 to his overnight score of seven.

The FIFA inspector, Salman al Namshan, thoroughly inspected the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Saturday and he was dissatisfied to see that his recommendations have not been properly implemented. The Bangladesh Football Federation was worried about the fate of the big bowl as an international venue.
   Soon after his arrival in Dhaka in the morning Salman visited the BNS to see the latest condition of the venue. He had inspected the stadium last August and prescribed some changes for ensuring a true sporting environment. The entrances and the dressing room were the main concerns.
   During the visit he was astonished to see the collapsed press box and watched the toilet facilities in the stands. He took pictures of the stands and the crashed roof of the press box.
   Later in the afternoon he went to the BFF House along with the director of development and planning of the National Sports Council and met the BFF officials. The FIFA official instructed the NSC to give a written detail of all the renovation works within two days and asked the BFF to send it to FIFA for appraisal and decision.
   ‘We are worried about the fate of the BNS, we explained everything to Salman and hope for a positive outcome like extension of time for reading the venue,’ said Manjur Hossain Malu, the acting general secretary of the BFF.
   The NSC has taken a number of steps to ensure a true sporting environment in the big bowl. They had talked with the shop-owners of the entrance gates to find a solution. The NSC is confident about dismantling the shops from the entrances, said an official.
   Salman is scheduled to leave for Nepal today.

England start their lone first-class match on the Sri Lankan tour here today hoping to fill the blanks in the Test squad for the series starting in a week’s time.
   The three-day match against the Sri Lanka Cricket XI at the Nondescripts Club is the tourists’ last opportunity to strike form ahead of the first of three back-to-back Tests starting in Kandy on December 1.
   The tour opener earlier this week against the same opposition, where all 16 England players were allowed to take the field, saw the hosts pile up 500-5 and restrict the tourists to 315-6.
   But on Sunday only 11 will play and England captain Michael Vaughan said performances in the match will help him finalise the team for the Kandy Test.
   ‘There are still a couple of places up for grabs and we have to make sure that, come Kandy on December 1, we get our eleven right,’ said Vaughan.
   ‘So there might be a couple of spaces where we can give players a chance and rest a couple of players who have played a lot of cricket recently.
   ‘But ideally you want to play as many players as possible in this three-day game who are going to be playing in the Test match.’
   The first five batting spots are settled with Vaughan opening with Alastair Cook, followed by Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood.
   Except for Pietersen, who was dismissed for four, the rest had a good outing in the opening match with Cook top-scoring with 63 and Collingwood making 52 before both retired to give others a chance at the crease.
   Owais Shah, who also retired after making 38, and Ravi Bopara, who returned unbeaten on 40, are expected to contest the number six Test spot.
   With wicket-keeper Matt Prior and left-arm spinner Monty Panesar certain to play in Kandy, England need to decide the three fast bowling places among five hopefuls. Steve Harmison, who joined the squad late having proved his fitness in South Africa, will be keenly watched after sending down just six overs in the previous match.
   Left-armer Ryan Sidebottom, Matthew Hoggard, James Anderson and Stuart Broad are the others in line to share the new ball attack. Tillekeratne Dilshan will lead the home team in a bid to regain his Test place after being ignored for the recent Australian tour and the Kandy Test.
   The local side also includes left-handed opener Upul Tharanga, who was on Friday named for the first Test after scoring 112 against England in the tour opener.

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene is confident that off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will surpass Shane Warne’s world record for highest number of Test wickets during the forthcoming series against England.
   ‘He (Murali) will break the record in the first Test itself,’ Jayawardene told reporters ahead of the series opener against England starting at Kandy next Saturday.
   The recently-concluded Test series against Australia Down Under could yield Muralitharan only four wickets and he is still short of five wickets to get past the world record.
   Jayawardene, upset over the 2-0 series loss against Australia, however, said their performance in the second Test against the Kangaroos would boost his team’s morale.
   ‘The confidence our batsmen regained in the second Test will provide a strong platform for us when we face the Englishmen here,’ the captain said.
   ‘We were playing in different conditions there in Australia. But we always have extra edge when playing in Sri Lanka,’ Jayawardene said.
   Jayawardene chose not to comment on the controversy surrounding former captain Marvan Atappatu, who recently announced his retirement from Test cricket, and described him as a great batsman.
   ‘Marvan signified a whole new chapter in Sri Lanka cricket. He was a technically sound batsman and a player who made a great impact on our cricket,’ he said.

Bangladesh Cricket Board plans to organise an international charity match in Dhaka for the cyclone Sidr-affected people of the country. It would be the most important agenda of the BCB executive committee meeting to be on Monday.
   ‘We certainly feel the urgency of helping the distressed people, but we have to think it out before making a final decision. All the players are busy with the national cricket league and at the moment there is no club cricket…so we have turn to international players but it is hard to assemble them,’ said Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu, chairman of the BCB cricket operations committee.
   ‘Most of the Test-playing nations are currently engaged in series – Pakistan-India, England-Sri Lanka and New Zealand-South Africa – and India are going to Australia, we will try to find some way to organise a charity match,’ said Lipu.

Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting Club will play two charity football matches in Sylhet and Tangail to raise funds for the cyclone-affected people of the country.
   A full-strength Mohammedan team will take on the Sylhet District XI at the Sylhet stadium on November 30 and then play the second match against Tangail XI at the Tangail stadium on December 1.
   Dhaka Mohammedan are also scheduled to play a three-match series against their arch-rivals Dhaka Abahani at the BNS on December 3, 5 and 7. The money collected from the matches will go to the CA’s relief fund.

Team East bundled Team North out for 108 in the first innings and stretched their lead to 279 runs at the end of the second day at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium on Saturday. Away at BKSP, Team South declared their first innings on 355 against Team West who were 93 for two at stumps. Team East resumed the day with 259 for five and declared their first innings on 309-9. Opener Shakil Haider slammed 130, Manirul Islam Taj scored 51 and Salahuddin Ahmed added 40. Later Arman Hossain of Team North fought alone scoring 71 of his team’s 108 runs. Debabrata Paul took four for 28. At the end of the day Team East were 78 for four with Prashenjit Roy making 21.
   Team South began with 201 for three and declared on 355-9. Shumon Saha led the way with a swashbuckling 83. Ashiqur Rahman added 62, Ahsanuallah Hasan 56 and Rubaiyat Huq 66. Hasibul Hossain Shanto and Md Akash picked up three wickets each.
   Sanjoy Chakrabarty was batting on 52 with his fellow opener Rashedul Huq Sumon (26) as Team West ended the day 262 runs behind their opponents’ first innings total.

Lacoste Inter-Club Tennis tournament involving six local and six Dhaka-based foreign clubs starts at the Club Amazon, Gulshan on Monday.
   The local clubs are: Club Amazon, Gulshan Club, Old Cadet College Club, Gulshan Youth Club and Narayanganj Club. American Club, British High Commission Club, Bagha Club, Nordic Club, Australian Club and Dutch Club of Dhaka are the foreign clubs to compete in the tournament. Among the 80 players 35 are foreigners.
   At a press briefing at the Dhaka Reporters Unity Khandoker Nazrul Islam, the CEO of Bangla Perfume Distributors, the agents of renowned French perfume and sports accessories manufacturer Lacoste, revealed the details of the tournament. Chairman of the company Faridul Alam was also present.
   The tourney is tipped to finish on December 8.

South Africa (131/7) beat New Zealand (129/7) by three wickets
   Shaun Pollock took three wickets on his return to international cricket as South Africa beat New Zealand by three wickets in a Twenty20 international at the Wanderers Stadium Friday.
   Veteran all-rounder Pollock, who was not selected for the Test series against the Black Caps, took three for 28 as New Zealand struggled to 129 for seven in their 20 overs.
   AB de Villiers hit the only half-century of the match as South Africa made hard work of their reply before tailender Johan Botha hit a boundary off Kyle Mills to seal victory with one ball to spare.
   De Villiers finished with 52 not out off 45 balls but South Africa got into a tangle against some accurate bowling by New Zealand spinners Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel towards the end of the match.
   Pollock was quickly into the action after South Africa sent New Zealand in to bat. He took the first two wickets of Brendon McCullum and Jamie How and followed up by dismissing New Zealand captain Vettori in his second spell.
   McCullum hooked a short ball for six in the third over but then slammed a fierce drive to JP Duminy at cover off the next delivery.
   Scott Styris was the only New Zealand top order batsman to prosper, making 30 off 27 balls before being caught at mid-off by South African captain Graeme Smith off fast bowler Dale Steyn, who was selected for his 20-overs international debut after taking 20 wickets in two matches in the Test series.
   All-rounder Mills gave the New Zealand innings some late sparkle with a hard-hit unbeaten 33 off 24 balls which included two straight sixes off Charl Langeveldt in the last three overs.
   Jacques Kallis, who was controversially left out of South Africa’s team for the World Twenty20 in September, returned to the South African team and opened the batting but made only four before being caught at fine leg.
   Left-hander Duminy made a fluent 33 and South Africa seemed on course for an easy win before Duminy was deceived by Vettori and stumped by McCullum. De Villiers survived a dropped catch by Mills at long-off against Vettori when he had five and the lapse proved costly for the tourists.
   New Zealand were without all-rounder Jacob Oram and fast bowler Chris Martin, recovering from injury and illness respectively, were not included in the New Zealand team. It is hoped both will be fit for a three-match one-day international series starting in Durban Sunday.

Justin Langer admits watching Phil Jaques head out to bat against Sri Lanka with his former Test opening partner Matthew Hayden was painful. Langer quit in January after scooping the Ashes 5-0 and he revealed that watching Jaques take his place earlier this month, in Australia’s first Test since he retired, was ‘quite emotional’.
   ‘I was quite emotional on the first morning,’ he said during Western Australia’s Pura Cup match against South Australia in Adelaide. ‘It was the first time since I’d announced my retirement that I realised that that was it, particularly the
   moment I saw Haydos and Phil Jaques walk across the white line.
   ‘That was quite an emotional time for me, but life goes on and I’m sure the decision I made was the right one. But having done it for so long - and people know how passionate I was about playing for Australia - that was an emotional first morning.’
   However, he says that he took pleasure in seeing the heat on Jaques and Chris Rogers, who were vying for the opener’s spot he had vacated, as it was a relief not to be in the media spotlight anymore for the first time in 10 years. ‘That was quite nice for me. It was interesting to see both of them struggling [in domestic cricket] and I’m sure it was because they were putting so much pressure on themselves. Having lived through that, I was watching with a smile rather than having to worry too much about it.’
   Jaques his reserved his place for now, with two centuries and a fifty in his three innings against Sri Lanka. He has impressed his predecessor, too. ‘His insatiable hunger for runs - that’s the thing that strikes me most about him.
   ‘He’s shown it in Test cricket, but whether he plays club cricket or state cricket or county cricket, he makes so many runs. You see the great sportsmen - [Roger] Federer playing tennis - and Phil Jaques watches the ball so closely, and that’s the sign of a very good player.’
   Langer, meanwhile, is happy to be enjoying domestic cricket away from the Test arena. He captained Somerset to promotion in the County Championship over the winter, and is enjoying the Warriors’ set-up. He also credits Tom Moody, his new coach and old friend who is godfather to his third daughter, with a contribution.
   ‘We’ve been mates a long time and we’ve played together, so it’s nice to be playing in this very professional environment again.
   ‘It’s been something West Australian cricket has probably lacked for a long time, and it’s just brilliant to be playing in this environment again.’

Brazilian superstar Ronaldo will make his first appearance of the season for AC Milan by starting today’s match at Cagliari, coach Carlo Ancelotti confirmed on Saturday.
   Ronaldo has had an injury blighted start to the season and is yet to get on the pitch.
   He was named as a substitute against Atlanta two weeks ago but that match was abandoned after just seven minutes due to crowd trouble.
   But now the former three times World Player of the Year will get the nod from the beginning.
   ‘Ronaldo will play from the start, he is well and will finally start to make a contribution to the team,’ Ancelotti told a press conference.
   ‘We expect the same from him this year as he gave last season. He has a great desire to play.’
   Ronaldo made a strong impression last season after signing from Real Madrid during the January transfer window. He scored seven goals in 14 league outings and he has been sorely missed this season, with Milan struggling down in 11th position and 11 points off league leaders Inter Milan - they have failed to win in six league matches at home.
   The 31-year-old will partner Italy forward Alberto Gilardino in attack, relegating Filippo Inzaghi to the bench. ‘Inzaghi had a little fever last night and therefore Gilardino will partner Ronaldo,’ added Ancelotti.
   The 31-year-old Ronaldo has not played since injuring his thigh at the end of July, although he did come through unscathed from a charity run-out in Malaga at the beginning of the week.
   Despite starting him, Ancelotti admitted Ronaldo will not finish the game.
   ‘Ronaldo has never played for 90 minutes and he never will. He has particular characteristics and those are enough for us.
   ‘Ronaldo produces moments of great genius and that’s what we’re looking for, we are convinced that he can succeed for us.’
   Meanwhile Ancelotti dismissed newspaper reports earlier in the day that Brazil playmaker Kaka has already been told he was won the Ballon d’Or - formerly the European Footballer of the Year award which has become a world player of the year award.
   The Ballon d’Or is a hot gossip subject in Italy with Kaka the overwhelming favourite to win when the award is announced on December 2 in Paris.
   ‘I would be astonished if Kaka didn’t win it but nothing is official yet,’ said Ancelotti.

Alessandro Del Piero warns he is not resigned to ending his Azzurri career. ‘If we’re at Euro 2008, some of the credit is mine.’
   The Juventus captain has been left out of the Italy squad ever since publicly telling Roberto Donadoni that he would not play out of position anymore.
   He had been used repeatedly in a wide left midfield role and complained that, especially in the 0-0 with France, this left him too detached from centre-forward Pippo Inzaghi. ‘I don’t feel as if I am cut out of the race to be in the side. Do I dream of Euro 2008? Yes, for that matter also about the 2010 World Cup,’ he told ‘La Repubblica’ newspaper.
   ‘I don’t want to play for the Nazionale as a midfielder, but I can quite happily do what Antonio Di Natale did against Scotland.’
   Donadoni prefers the 4-3-3 formation, but can sometimes switch to a 4-4-2 or even a disguised 4-5-1 when needs be and it is here that Del Piero believes he can contribute.
   ‘I wasn’t called up for the last two games, but you cannot destroy all the work done up until now with two missed appearances,’ he assured.
   ‘I have my own ideas on why I’ve been left out, but I do not feel myself the victim of any injustice. I have told Donadoni – if Italy are at Euro 2008 then some of the credit is also mine.’
   The Juventus star made five appearances in the qualifying campaign for Austria and Switzerland, although he did not score a single goal and has not played for the Nazionale since the 0-0 with France on September 8, when he made his stand about playing in midfield.
   ‘I am playing a little less than last season at club level, though I have much the same scoring record, and did not notice any moments of decline or total darkness.’
   Throughout his career Alex has had to deal with constant criticism from the media, but the man who turned 33 a fortnight ago is accustomed to it.
   ‘That kind of backchat builds my self-esteem,’ he smiled. ‘I don’t feel like a Highlander, though. I know I’m not eternal.’
   Del Piero also commented on the Scudetto race, where Juventus have been complaining that since Calciopoli they are ‘punished’ by too many refereeing errors.
   ‘It is entirely possible the psychological weakness towards big clubs like Juve and Milan has been turned on its head.
   ‘If these two sides are complaining, does this make it a fairer campaign? I’d say it’ll only be fair when nobody has any reason to complain. If I make a mistake, I can’t rectify it by making another error to compensate.
   ‘Every team that has won the Scudetto benefited from incidents going their way, including Inter, Lazio and Roma. That is the truth.’

If anyone has a spare £8000 the final set of debenture seats for the Grandstand at Lord’s have gone on public sale. On offer is the right to purchase the best seats in the ground for all international and showpiece domestic matches from 2008 to 2015.
   Prime seats would be guaranteed for England’s two Tests a season, plus any one-day internationals hosted at the ground, along with the domestic one-day final and Middlesex’s home Twenty20 matches.
   Funds raised by the scheme will be spent by the MCC on promoting the game at home and abroad as well as on the continued redevelopment of Lord’s.
   ‘This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who loves cricket to become a season-ticket holder at the best cricket ground in the world,’ said the MCC chairman Charles Fry. ‘Lord’s has played a huge part in the history of cricket and the MCC continues to encourage the game in all its aspects on a worldwide basis.’

Software group Satyam has become FIFA’s first major sponsor from India after being appointed as their official IT services provider for the next seven years.
   Under an agreement signed here on Saturday, Satyam will join global giants such as McDonalds and the US brewer Anheuser-Busch as one of six World Cup sponsors.
   The Indian company will provide Information Technology support for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups to be held in South Africa and Brazil respectively.
   ‘This is a momentous day for Satyam, as we pledge to work much more closely with FIFA than we have in the past in the run up to 2010 and 2014,’ the company’s founder and owner B Ramalinga Raju said after the signing ceremony.
   ‘We will bring the benefits of ever-evolving IT services to the organisation of these events and we feel our contribution will be really dramatic.’
   Sepp Blatter, the president of world football’s governing body FIFA, welcomed the deal. ‘This is a premier,’ he told a press conference on the eve of the qualifying draw for the 2010 tournament.
   ‘For the first time in the history of the World Cup we have a global company from India supporting this biggest sporting event. This is our first Indian partner, it is a seven-year deal and I’m very proud about that.’
   The value of the contract to FIFA was not divulged.
   Satyam is the fourth World Cup sponsor to be signed by FIFA following McDonalds, Anheuser-Busch and South African telecommunications group MTN, with two more to be finalised.

Modern Arsenal do not favour cross-country runs. ‘Training is always with the ball,’ said Fabregas. ‘It’s physical, but always with the ball. Just running? Oh, no, no, no.’
   By the time he joined Arsenal, training had been removed to London Colney with its 10 immaculate pitches. So much attention to so many details inspired the creation of London Colney: the colours on the walls are muted, the floors heated and natural light spills in through glass ceilings. Apprentices are no longer expected to clean boots and sweep floors. These days the sweeping is done by contract cleaners.
   Lunch in the canteen in George’s day featured steak and kidney pudding, apple pie and custard. ‘It was completely different from nowadays. When we were kids we used to have a steak for the pre-match meal. I used to a have a bit of steak and toast. Later, we went on to fruit and cornflakes and poached eggs. Then after that, fish came in, didn’t it?
   ‘After training on a Friday, the team would go and sit up in the Wimpy Bar and have a burger in there. We didn’t see why not. It’s all changed a hell of a lot. For a start we’d mix with the supporters more in our day. I would go down the pub after games. People would say, ‘Oh, you were crap today’, or ‘You played well’. They’d tell you how it was because they were your friends and friends don’t lie. All my friends were supporters.’
   ‘My diet?’ asked Fabregas. ‘I eat a lot of pasta with tomato sauce. And then fish. The best is when we go to the Four Seasons Hotel in Canary Wharf before games and they give us potatoes, fish, chicken, pasta, eggs. I love it. But I have to admit that sometimes when I have a day off I like to go to the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. When we play on a Saturday at home, after the game I go there and it’s like a party. A doughnuts party. Because you can see all the cars parked there and everyone eating their doughnuts inside their cars. Ay, ay, ay. It’s like a discotheque. I like the boxes with six to 12 different toppings!
   ‘I don’t think Arsene Wenger would tell me I was doing wrong. No, because I know when I can eat things that are not best for my body and when I have to eat properly. I have smoked, like, one cigarette in my life. No, not one whole cigarette. I once had one puff. It was the day of my Confirmation in Spain. There is a tradition in my family that as soon as you get confirmed you can have one puff. But I didn’t like it. I didn’t take the smoke in, I blew it out instead.’
   They are two different players, inspiring two different sets of headlines.
   ‘By George!’ We saw that one a few times. ‘The Joy Of Cesc!’ That was the glorious phrase when the Spanish teenager galvanised Arsenal to a 2-0 triumph over Juventus on their 2006 run to the Champions League Final. Everything — even the headline writers — had become more sophisticated by the 21st Century.
   ‘It amused me when Jose Antonio Reyes said he was having a hard time learning English at Arsenal — that’s because nobody speaks it,’ joked George. ‘But I don’t care where our players come from now, as long as they’re good. It’s a global game, isn’t it?
   ‘Languages? When you play football, it’s a universal language. Good luck to the modern player — and their earnings. When we won The Double in 1971, we were on £150- £200 a week, with bonuses on top.’
   Life on the modern Arsenal team bus is highly technological. The players sit wearing their iPods, their all-singing mobiles in hand. You might wonder what Charlie George and the lads took with them on the long haul to places like Newcastle and Manchester, stopping off at service stations for chips.
   Charlie thought about it. ‘Twenty fags and a packet of cards, probably,’ he said.

South Africa are praying England qualify for the next World Cup — because they want the WAGS!
   The 2010 hosts are in a panic after England’s failure to reach Euro 2008.
   They fear the Three Lions might blow it again in the World Cup qualifying campaign — costing the South African economy millions and denying them a chance to indulge the infamous wives and girlfriends.
   The WAGS, led by the likes of Wayne Rooney’s fiancee Coleen McLoughlin and Steven Gerrard’s wife Alex Curran, were the talk of Germany at the last World Cup for their late-night partying and love of shopping.
   Joe Cole’s girlfriend Carly Zucker, a fitness instructor, changed outfits three times a day.
   The girls were constantly tracked by the paparazzi and thousands of photos were published around the world.
   And after missing out on trips to Austria and Switzerland in June, the WAGs will be raring to go in 2010. This was not lost on Danny Jordaan, the boss of South Africa’s World Cup committee, as he prepares for the qualifying draw in Durban today.
   He told The Sun: ‘England fans are travelling fans and they are very important for the atmosphere.
   ‘And, in Germany, they brought an additional element — the WAGs. England is very important to the World Cup.
   ‘If you look at Germany in terms of the amount of tickets sold, England sold 80,000 and at one stage had more than 100,000 fans there. The TV market is quite important, too, but we don’t only look at you in financial terms.
   ‘This is about football fans of the world coming together.’
   England’s chances of qualifying have been made harder by missing out on Euro 2008.
   They are not one of the top European seeds and will be in pot two tomorrow. That means England could be grouped with a powerhouse like Italy, Germany, France or Holland.
   Only the group winners go through automatically with eight second-placed sides contesting a play-off and the worst runner-up eliminated.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter urged South African construction workers on Saturday not to wreck the 2010 World Cup, saying the successful staging of the tournament lay in their hands.
   As uncertainty continues to swirl about the rate of progress on the 10 venues that will host the tournament, Blatter paid a personal visit to the Moses Madhida Stadium in Durban which is to host one of the semi-finals and chatted directly with construction workers who have recently ended a strike.
   ‘I told them that they are the real workers, stone by stone,’ said Blatter, who was serenaded in Zulu by some of the workers during his walkabout.
   ‘If they don’t work on that basis, then the realisation of such a work, and I am not speaking about just one stadium but the whole World Cup’ will be placed under threat, he added.
   ‘If they do not work, we can speak here for hours and come back every year and nothing has happened.’
   Construction was halted for nearly a fortnight earlier this month by a strike in Durban while workers have also downed tools in recent weeks at stadiums in Cape Town and the northeastern city of Nelspruit.
   Unions had threatened to expand the strikes to cover all World Cup construction projects before a deal on pay and conditions was reached last week.
   Blatter revealed later at a press conference that workers in Durban would receive an end of year bonus if they did not strike again, and said he hoped the money-carrot approach will be adopted countrywide.
   ‘They have agreement now that if no-one strikes they will receive a bonus at the end of the year and they have signed it,’ he said.
   ‘I’m convinced that the system employed here in Durban will spread to other cities where there are still dicussions.’
   Blatter said that Durban was ahead of schedule but senior FIFA officials have acknowledged that there are concerns that other stadiums, including in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, are slipping.
   FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said on Friday Port Elizabeth could lose the right to be one of the hosts of the 2009 Confederations Cup, the traditional warm-up for the World Cup, although no decision would be made until early next year.
   Blatter expressed concern last year that he had yet to see ‘picks and shovels’ swinging into action although he now appears to be more relaxed about progress.
   Asked if he was worried about the overall rate of progress, he replied: ‘No, no, no. I can say no because it’s based on confidence.’
   He later added: ‘We are confident, more than confident, We trust the organising committee.’
   Local Organising Committee chairman Danny Jordaan, who accompanied Blatter on the Durban stadium tour, agreed the stadium issue was the most vital one facing the tournament.
   ‘If we do not have the stadium then we do not have the World Cup,’ he told reporters.
   Jordaan however said it was clear that progress was being made at every venue.
   ‘In every single city we can now see the stadiums emerging out of the ground.’

Sir Alex Ferguson believes that the English Football Assocition were too quick to dispense with Steve McClaren’s services.
   McClaren worked under Ferguson at Old Trafford before going on to work at Middlesbrough and take the England job.
   He was sacked after England’s 3-2 defeat to Croatia in midweek meant they failed to qualify for next year’s European Championships in Austria and Switzerland.
   Ferguson thinks that in the current climate of Premiership clubs taking quick decisions to ditch their managers, such as Bolton and Wigan, the FA could have set a better example.
   He said: ‘I can’t understand why they made the decision at 8.30 the next morning and they don’t play again until February.
   ‘What I think about that is, you talk about knee-jerk reactions and I think the outcome would have been the same in a week anyway.
   ‘Nonetheless, from people who are running the game in our country, it doesn’t do them much good in terms of setting an example to football clubs throughout the country who have knee-jerk reactions every day.
   ‘Someone has to set a standard of how to behave in how they do that and that was disappointing.
   ‘To make the decision over a bacon sandwich at 8.30 in the morning as it has said in the papers, is not right. They could have waited. The next game is in February.’
   Ferguson was quick to shoot down any suggestion that Carlos Tevez is struggling for fitness ahead of Saturday’s game against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium.
   It had been claimed that the United striker was exhausted after playing for Argentina in midweek. But Ferguson said: ‘He doesn’t know where that came from. I suggested that he should be on the bench tomorrow but he gave me a look, a sort of South American look that Che Guevara would do.
   ‘He was running about like a two-year-old this morning.’
   Ferguson was similarly dismissive of reports that Wayne Rooney was ahead of schedule in his return from an ankle injury and expects the England striker to be back in action against Fulham next weekend.
   ‘He’s doing some running but somebody reported he was training on Tuesday, they’d seen him training. They must have had some eyesight!
   ‘He started doing some running yesterday and he did some good running today but he won’t be available tomorrow or for Tuesday but he should be available for Fulham.’
   The United manager confirmed that French defender Patrice Evra will be the next player to be involved in contract discussions after tying utility man John O’Shea, who will now be at Old Trafford until 2012, to an extended contract.
   Ferguson said: ‘John’s one of our own players produced by a club. He’s shown his loyalty and we respect the job he’s done here because he’s a fabulous professional, he’s a good type of person too and you never have any problems with him.
   ‘Most importantly he’s an important player for us and he can play in a number of positions which is vital to you.
   ‘Patrice Evra will be the next one.’
   Gary Neville is set to return for the reserves this week but Nemanja Vidic is struggling with a back problem ahead of the game at the Reebok Stadium.

It might be 31 months away, but Asian teams are already dreaming of the World Cup finals in 2010 and their first big step towards South Africa will be taken today.
   The draw in Durban for the third round of qualifying will determine not only who the top seeds will play but whether some of Asia’s minor sides will have any reasonable hope of progressing to the fourth and final round.
   The region has four automatic qualifying berths for the showpiece in South Africa while the fifth placed team will play-off against Oceania’s best, probably New Zealand.
   Asia’s 20 remaining teams, from an initial 41, will be divided into five groups of four, with a seed in each.
   The first and second in each group will qualify for the fourth and final round.
   The draw could throw up some interesting scenarios with potentially strong sides, like China and Asian champions Iraq, being grouped together with one of the seeds—Australia, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia or Japan .
   The other teams waiting to find out who they will be drawn against include Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Turkmenistan, UAE, and Uzbekistan.
   Of the Asian Football Confederation’s 46 member nations, only eight have ever made the World Cup finals in the 53 years that the AFC has been in business.
   Outside of this year’s seeds, they are UAE in 1990, Iraq in 1986, Kuwait in 1982 and North Korea in 1966.
   Japan is arguably the football power on the continent, having qualified for the last three World Cups.
   They have a competitive J-League and an ever growing number of players plying their trade in Europe and it will be a major upset if they do not make it to South Africa.
   It is a similar story for South Korea who have six straight successful qualification campaigns under their belt, although they laboured to make the finals in Germany in 2006.
   Iran’s credentials remain strong despite a number of senior players reaching the end of their international careers.
   The Saudis though have been on the wane since their World Cup debut in 1994, but making the Asian Cup final this year signalled the side may be bouncing back.
   Despite being packed with well-known names, the AFC’s newest arrival Australia remains an unknown quantity.
   After being widely tipped to lift the Asian Cup at their
   first attempt this year, they struggled to handle the heat in Southeast Asia and were far from convincing, eventually being bundled out by Japan in the quarters.
   Their performances during qualifying for South Africa, and whether their star names will be prepared to jet half way around the world to potentially play someone like Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan remains to be seen.
   Another underperformer looking to prove themselves in qualifying will be China,
   which had a taste of the World Cup in 2002 but has never
   quite lived up to expectations since.
   Asian champions Iraq will be in South Africa for the Confederations Cup in 2009 but whether they can return the following year could defend on which sides they are drawn against on Sunday.
   In their favour, they have a new, and hugely experienced, coach in Norway’s Egil
   Olsen who helped his home nation qualify for the
   World Cups in the United States in 1994 and France four years later.
   This is in contrast to Australia, South Korea, and Iran who are all without coaches less than three months away from the crucial third round of qualifying.

Avram Grant has ordered Chelsea’s England stars to show their bottle after the Euro 2008 debacle.
   Wembley losers Frank Lampard, Wayne Bridge, Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips all start at Derby.
   Manager Grant told The Sun: ‘I don’t think the English players are happy.
   ‘What’s happened on Wednesday for them is some kind of tragedy. But they need to pull themselves together and play for Chelsea.
   ‘You can imagine how the English players are. But they are professionals and know they will have good times and disappointing times.
   ‘They know that and I told you from the beginning I want players with character who know how to behave in good times and bad times.’
   Grant could not explain how his stars shine for their club week in week out but cannot reproduce that form for their country.
   He added: ‘I need to know what happens in training and what is the tactic for the games and many things I don’t know.
   ‘I do know what they’re doing for Chelsea but you can’t give a serious answer when you don’t know all the information.
   ‘Yet in other qualification games and in the Euro and the World Cup finals England played well.’
   But Grant blasted Sunderland boss Roy Keane’s claim that egos damaged the England team.
   The former Israel boss insisted: ‘I am 52 years old and ever since I was 10 I heard footballers have a big ego, always. They have big ego and money.
   ‘Roy Keane had a big ego when he was a player and I don’t think it’s wrong.
   ‘It’s wrong if you take it in a negative way. But if someone is proud of himself and ready to give 100 per cent it’s not a problem.
   ‘You think when you come to the national team you need a motivator? I was a national coach.
   ‘You take the players who are motivated to play for their country. If not you don’t choose them.’
   Grant indirectly laid the responsibility of England failure at Steve McClaren’s door by adding: ‘What is key at international level is to organise the team.
   ‘The tactical side is important because you have the players only for four or five days. You can’t work on the physical or technical side.’

England should look to the shortcomings of their players when seeking to explain their failure to qualify for next year’s European championship, former Argentina forward Jorge Valdano has said.
   ‘At present England will feel it is the victim of the success of its domestic league and use this to justify its absence from Euro 2008,’ Valdano said in his weekly column in sports daily Marca on Saturday.
   ‘The weekly wear and tear of the Premier League, the excessive number of foreigners, and the new ideas that contaminate the purity of the particular British style. An avalanche of opinions, all exaggerated, will try to frame the debacle around a central principle: those from outside harm what’s inside.
   ‘It would be better for them to look at the problem head on and to recognise that from Eric Cantona to now, those from outside import prestige and those inside export failures.
   ‘The over-rating of some English players that have much more name than talent, is the sad reality.’
   England’s fate was sealed by Wednesday’s 3-2 qualifying defeat by Croatia at Wembley.

European champions AC Milan are taking the Club World Cup seriously and the tournament comes at the perfect time in the season, captain Paolo Maldini said on Friday.
   The event, which takes place in Japan and involves seven clubs from the continental federations around the globe, starts on December 7 with the final on December 16.
   The competition has previously been widely criticised by the media, especially when it forced Manchester United to pull out of the FA Cup in 2000.
   Under the current format, Milan will play only two matches but have had to move their final Champions League match against Celtic forward by a week to accommodate the tournament.
   ‘We are very proud to participate in the Club World Cup. It is the first time we have played in this new format, which I believe is more difficult than before,’ Maldini told a news conference.
   ‘The first time we went to play (this tournament) not understanding perfectly the importance of this Cup. We realised it only after having won it.’
   Milan have stuttered in Serie A this term but are poised to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League.
   Maldini said the middle of the season was a good time to go to Japan where they will not play their first match, a semi-final against Iran’s Sepahan, New Zealand’s Waitakere United or Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds, until December 13.
   ‘At a physical level I believe the squad arrives in Japan at the best moment. Fortunately we will have the necessary time to adapt to the time zone and to the rhythm of Japanese life,’ he said.

FIFA is to spend $70 million on projects to improve African soccer while the continent prepares to host the 2010 World Cup finals.
   The installation of artificial pitches, introduction of professional leagues and administration and training of coaches and doctors form part of the ‘Win with Africa in Africa’ initiative launched last year.
   ‘There is a strong feeling that this World Cup should leave a legacy through out the African continent, not only for 2010 hosts South Africa,’ FIFA’s director for international relations Jerome Champagne told reporters on Saturday.
   ‘We aim to create better facilities, increase management skills and access to football,’ he added.
   An artificial pitch is to be installed in all but one of Africa’s 53 member countries, the only exception being World Cup hosts South Africa. A total of 21 have already been completed, most of them in national stadiums.
   The project also supports the development of national leagues, with training and equipment.
   Champagne said similar projects had been launched for India, Oceania and the Caribbean.

Hamburg’s Dutch captain Rafael van der Vaart, who caused a storm earlier this season when he was photographed holding a Valencia shirt, says contract extension talks have gone well.
   The 24-year-old Netherlands star ran into hot water with his German club at the start of the season when he was photographed with a Valencia shirt and was openly courting a move to the Spanish giants.
   ‘We have had a conversation which went well, I can’t go into details, but I am happy,’ Van der Vaart old German television channel DSF. ‘If a club makes me an offer, then I have to weigh up the pros and cons.’
   And van der Vaart said he understood the reasons why Hamburg coach Huub Stevens is set to leave the Bundesliga side to join PSV Eindhoven, the same city where his wife is receiving treatment for intestine problems.

Marion Jones was on Friday handed a two-year ban by athletics’ world ruling body, the IAAF, which recommended that the International Olympic Committee withdraw all five of the US sprinter’s Olympic medals after she admitted doping.
   The International Association of Athletics Federations reviewed Jones’ case in light of her admission that she was using the prohibited substance known as ‘the clear’ beginning on September 1, 2000.
   The IAAF said the two-year ban would start from the date of her ‘acceptance of sanction on October 8, 2007, (and would run) until October 7, 2009’.
   The now-retired Jones, once hailed as the world’s greatest woman athlete, is considered disqualified from all competitions on or subsequent to September 1, 2000, a ruling that also means that all her individual and team competitive results from that date are also annulled, it added.
   The IAAF added that the ban would also include the ‘forfeiture and return of all awards and medals obtained in relation to the above competitions ... (and the) forfeiture and return of money awarded to her in relation to the above competitions’.
   Jones was the track and field star of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, winning individual gold in the 100m and 200m, and team gold in the 4x400m relay. She also picked up two bronzes in the long jump and 4x100m relay.
   ‘The IAAF Council further recommends to the IOC Executive Board to disqualify Jones and the USA women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams from the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 and to insist on the return of all medals and diplomas,’ it said.
   Jones’ medal tally also includes three golds and one bronze garnered at the world championships before September 2000, and a gold and silver in the 200m and 100m in the 2001 edition of the biannual event in Edmonton, Canada.
   Jones last month handed back her five Olympic medals after admitting in a US court to using performance-enhancing drugs.
   Greek sprinter Ekaterini Thanou, who finished second behind Jones in the 100m in Sydney, could now be awarded the gold.
   But Thanou’s situation poses a problem for the IOC as she was given a two-year ban for allegedly faking a motorbike crash to cover up missing a drug test during the 2004 Summer Games.
   The United States Olympic Committee has also asked Jones to repay more than 100,000 dollars in prize and bonus money.
   Last month, Jones pleaded guilty to a charge of lying to US federal agents over her drug use, admitting that she used the steroid THG, produced by the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) and known as ‘the clear’, from September 2000 until July 2001.
   She claimed that her former coach Trevor Graham had told her she was taking flaxseed oil, but by November 2003, she realised it was in fact a performance enhancing drug.
   Jones was one of many high-profile athletes who testified before a federal grand jury investigating BALCO, a probe that has resulted in five convictions.
   Jones’ former partner Tim Montgomery was banished and his world 100m record run erased based on evidence collected in the BALCO probe.
   Jones herself had steadfastly denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs, even as the BALCO-spawned suspicions swirled around her.
   She even sued BALCO founder Victor Conte - who was convicted of steroid peddling - for defamation over his accusations on US television that she was a drugs cheat, later settling out of court.
   Jones is the latest in a line of the highest-profile athletes convicted of using banned drugs, joining a hall of shame including Canadian Ben Johnson and the 100m Olympics gold medalist of 2004, Justin Gatlin.

Pete Sampras fired off his trademark powerful serve in a shock upset of world number one Roger Federer in Macau on Saturday to post his first win in their three-game Asian exhibition series.
   The former US world champion came back strongly after defeats in Seoul and Kuala Lumpur, forcing the first break of the match in the ninth game of the second set and serving out for victory to win 7-6, 6-4 in 70 minutes.
   He won the first set on a tie-break after a tight affair that had gone with serve on a lightning-quick court.
   Sampras, 36, said the level of play in the final match was high.
   ‘It was very fast out there, very quick conditions. It was helping out my service games. I got going a little bit today and it could have gone either way in the first set.’
   The 26-year-old Federer praised his opponents serve, saying he still could compete at the top five level in the world.
   ‘We delivered a great level of play. Unfortunately I didn’t win today but the surface was really quick and Pete was playing really well and hardly making any mistakes,’ he said.
   Sampras, who won a record 14 Grand Slams, started the match strongly with his heavy serve, hitting two aces in the first game and never letting up.
   He impressed at the net with his serve-volley game as the match continued to go with serve.
   Federer, currently on 12 Grand Slams, had two set points in the first set tie-break, but Sampras escaped and made his second set point count.
   Serve continued to dominate at the start of the second set, with neither player looking likely to force the vital break. Federer pushed Sampras to deuce in game eight but the American produced an ace to get out of trouble and level it up at 4-4 before he broke Federer.
   Both players hit 14 aces during the match. Sampras made 15 unforced errors to Federer’s 13, while Sampras won 14 points at the net to Federer’s six.
   Their clash in the packed arena at Macau’s Venetian resort was their third match in just five days, following the meetings in Seoul and Malaysia.
   Federer won the first match in Seoul on Tuesday 6-4, 6-3 in 61 minutes.
   The second clash, in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, was a closer affair over 90 minutes, with Federer emerging victorious after winning both sets on tie-breaks.
   The two met only once on the ATP Tour, in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2001, when Federer defeated the American in five sets.
   The loss ended Sampras’ remarkable reign at the All England Club. Sampras retired from professional tennis in 2002.

Ticket prices for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will range from 20 to 900 dollars, while 120,000 seats will be given away for free, organisers announced on Saturday.
   FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said that four categories of ticket prices would be in place for the 64 matches in the
   month-long tournament with prices in the cheapest category only available to South African residents.
   Tickets in category four will be as low as 20 dollars for first round-matches and will rise to 150 dollars for the finals.
   The most expensive tickets during the course of the tournament would be for the final in Johannesburg on July 11 where the four prices would be: 150, 400, 600 and 900 dollars.
   Valcke said that 120,000 tickets would be distributed to South Africans, many of whom would find them well beyond their price range.
   ‘We will give them to South Africans through our commercial partners,’ said Valcke. ‘We are working with the LOC (Local Organising Committee) to ensure that the delivery of these tickets will be done in the best possible way.’
   LOC chief executive Danny Jordaan said that the organisers would work on measures to ensure that the category four tickets are not simply sold on for profit by South Africans.
   ‘We made it very clear that this World Cup has been embraced and supported by the poor and that is why we have created this,’ he said after a meeting of the organising committee in Durban on the eve of the draw for the qualifiers.
   ‘If people sit there with England or Belgium shirts on, it would be obvious that something has gone wrong.’
   Organisers also announced three kick-off times. Matches will begin at either 1100 GMT, 1400 GMT or 1800 GMT, ensuring two thirds of the matches will be on during television prime time in most of Asia.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that he tried to buy much-travelled French international forward Nicolas Anelka several times.
   ‘We have tried to buy Anelka several times,’ said Ferguson of the Bolton forward who has played for three of Manchester United’s rivals - Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City.
   ‘He is a very talented player. You always assess players with pace and ability to score and he comes into that category, and has done throughout his career.’
   While Anelka will be looking to inflict some damage on United on Saturday as Bolton look to drag themselves out of the relegation zone with a win at the Reebok Stadium, an impressive display could yet lead to another Ferguson bid. Anelka has scored six goals for struggling Bolton this season and with Louis Saha still to convince of his long-term fitness at United, Ferguson may eventually move for the Frenchman whom he believes has finally settled down.
   ‘Sam (Allardyce) showed great faith in bringing him to Bolton because he had been around a few clubs before that,’ said Ferguson.
   ‘But, for the first time, he seems to be feeling very settled and happy, which is important for a player like Anelka.
   ‘Sam took the risk and it has worked. Bolton are getting their dividends and Anelka seems to have found the right club for himself in terms of enjoying the environment and the training.’
   Any renewed move for Anelka is dependent on how Saha shapes up.
   ‘The situation with Louis is simple,’ said Ferguson.
   ‘We are managing his appearances, trying to make sure we give him the right opportunities so we have him for the whole season, not just half.
   ‘He has been unfortunate with a couple of the injuries he has had because they have not been easy ones to get over.
   ‘We are trying not to put him under intense pressure in terms of playing time that could reverse the situation he is in at the moment. We want him to be playing in May.’
   Meanwhile, Anelka admits he should perhaps have stayed at Arsenal. The Frenchman left the Gunners in 1999 to join Real Madrid and has struggled to settle at any club before arriving at the Reebok Stadium in the summer of 2006.
   Now at 28, Anelka admitted it would be exciting to be involved with Arsene Wenger’s current side, who have made an excellent start to the season.
   He told The Sun: ‘If you look now at the situation Arsenal are in and look at where I am, then you could say maybe I should have stayed.
   ‘Of course, I would like to play in that team. Which striker wouldn’t want to be part of a team that plays such amazing football?
   ‘But the way they are playing, who’s to say I’d even get in that team?’

Fernando Torres reckons he can ensure Liverpool are crowned champions by becoming king of the scoring charts.
   Manager Rafa Benitez has told his troops winning the Premier League is the priority this season after 17 years without the title.
   And Torres, 23, believes his firepower is the key to putting the Kop back on top as he aims to shoot down Newcastle today.
   The £21.5million club-record signing has bagged five league goals so far this season as well as a Carling Cup hat-trick at Reading.
   He told The Sun: ‘What happens almost always with the team that ends up champions is that they also have the top scorer.
   ‘It would be really beautiful but what would be even better is a great season for Liverpool.
   ‘My top challenge is to start games and to score the biggest number of goals possible to help the team.’
   The former Atletico Madrid hitman showed his killer instinct when he came off the bench to score a wonder goal against Fulham in his last outing.
   And as Torres focuses on answering Benitez’s title battle cry, he revealed he has turned to Anfield history lessons for inspiration as he hunts the Golden Boot.
   And there is no better example to follow for the young Spaniard than the achievements of Kop idols Kenny Dalglish, Robbie Fowler and all-time top-scorer Ian Rush, who grabbed 346 goals for the Reds. Torres added: ‘The first thing the club did for me when I arrived in Liverpool was to present me with a DVD and two books about the history of Liverpool FC.
   ‘I know all about Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley — two legendary managers with a lot of charisma and much loved by our fans. And out of the strikers I’m stuck on Dalglish, Fowler and Rush.
   ‘I’ve signed for six seasons and I hope that good results allow me to have a big impact on Anfield. Rush is a great and I’m still a long way off his amazing achievements and number of goals.
   ‘At the moment my favourite goal is the one I scored against Chelsea. It was my first game at Anfield in front of my new fans and against a great rival.
   ‘I’m happy with how things are going but the most important thing is collective success.’
   Benitez has admitted the next month could determine whether Liverpool are on course for a season to remember — or a campaign heading to oblivion.
   The tricky trip to Newcastle is the start of a run which also includes two Euro games against Porto and Marseille, a Carling Cup clash at Chelsea and a Premier League visit from Manchester United.
   The Reds must win both Champions League games to avoid a humiliating group stage exit, while defeat to champions United would smash their hopes of title glory. On the back of Thursday’s petulant outburst, when Benitez effectively gave the club’s American owners a ‘back me or sack me’ ultimatum, it has sent the tension for the Toon clash soaring.
   Even Benitez admitted: ‘Yes, it is a really important time for us and we know it’s always difficult going to Newcastle.’
   Yet the Anfield chief believes the heartache of England’s Euro 2008 KO will inspire skipper Steven Gerrard to even greater heights over the coming weeks.
   He added: ‘I know Steven was really disappointed but he has a good mentality and must keep going and be ready for the next game.
   ‘But I think our England players will be OK. They are Liverpool Football Club players and will be up for this match.’
   At least Benitez can call on Torres again, after his recovery from the abductor injury which has been dogging him.
   Torres is ready to start for the first time in six games and his manager revealed: ‘Fernando has been training well and will be OK. All the players will be. They know we have a good team and a good squad, which is in a good position, so they know we have confidence.’

Terry Venables reckons the job of England manager job may be more suited to a foreigner like Fabio Capello nowadays, the former England boss wrote in The Sun newspaper on Saturday.
   Venables said someone like the experienced Italian coach, who managed AC Milan, Real Madrid, Roma and Juventus, would be the ideal man to take the post.
   Steve McClaren was sacked as the national team coach on Thursday, along with his assistant Venables following England’s failure to qualify for the 2008 European Championships.
   ‘Managing England has become harder than ever and you need someone used to those extraordinary pressures,’ said ex-Barcelona, Tottenham and Australia boss Venables.
   ‘I never thought I would be saying this but people like Capello have already experienced such pressure in their own country. They have the know-how, deep knowledge of international and Champions League football. But most of all they are winners.
   ‘People like Capello and Marcello Lippi, who won the World Cup with Italy, are tough guys who wouldn’t find it so difficult working here.’
   Venables would like to see another Englishman appointed in McClaren’s place—but said the pressure that comes with it meant it was perhaps better suited to someone who could return abroad afterwards.
   Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson—who won the league and cup double in Sweden, Portugal and Italy—was McClaren’s predecessor, but found himself under intense media scrutiny and vilification, despite leading England to three successive quarter-finals at major international tournaments.
   ‘Maybe it is time for a foreign manager once again. I’ve always believed an Englishman should manage England—if possible,’ Venables wrote.
   ‘But the job is getting more difficult. It’s always been high profile but the dissection of your every move and decision has become unbelievably intense. It’s more relentless and ruthless now than ever before.
   ‘In some ways, it’s almost easier being abroad—a manager working in a foreign country can ultimately choose the moment when he’s had enough and go home.
   ‘An Englishman faces the aftermath day in, day out, which means you are never really able to live an ordinary life.
   ‘An English manager has to think of his family’s security and wellbeing here, his kids at school and what their experience might be. They can be taunted simply because of what their dad does and says.
   ‘I would love an Englishman to get the job but maybe the pressure has become so severe that it actually suits a foreign candidate more.’
   England finished third in their Euro 2008 qualifying group, behind Croatia and Russia, thanks to Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat at home to Croatia.
   Venables feared McClaren’s 16-month reign would only be remembered for England’s bad results.
   ‘I could point out that if ever we needed our big guns for one big match it was on Wednesday,’ he wrote.
   ‘But no-one wants to be reminded right now that we had no Wayne Rooney, no Michael Owen, no Rio Ferdinand, no John Terry.
   ‘Instead they will point to our failures, especially against Macedonia and Croatia away. English football is about expectancy—everyone expects results and we didn’t produce them in those two matches.
   ‘I fear that will be Steve McClaren’s legacy and the highs against Russia and Israel at Wembley will be forever forgotten.’

Carlos Tevez wants to quit Manchester United at his peak before returning home to Boca Juniors.
   Tevez, 23, has another season left on his current deal at Old Trafford but hopes to stay for a further four years after that.
   While he says he ‘could’ extend his deal he has vowed to definitely return to Argentina and the club where he started his career.
   Tevez told The Sun: ‘At 28, I want to be in Boca. I have another year on my contract with Manchester and I could extend it for four years more then return.
   ‘But I want to return to Boca at my peak not as some fatso. Imagine if you cannot move — they’d scream insults at you. If I return it will be to get stuck in and play!
   ‘But I’d like to stay a few more years in Manchester. They look after me well.’
   Boss Alex Ferguson may not know it but by February he might have to accomodate a film crew, too.
   A film is being made of Tevez’s career from the slums of Buenos Aires to playing for Argentina and Manchester United.
   Tevez added: ‘The film is going well. The script has been written and in February a team is coming to start work.
    ‘My story has always been a battle, a fight for every small thing and I want to show young people of today what you can achieve. That’s the film.’

Luiz Felipe Scolari insisted Friday that he intends to see out his contract as Portugal coach despite being linked with the vacant England manager’s job.
   The former Brazil coach said that he had not been in contact with the Football Association and had not received an offer after the sacking of Steve McClaren following England’s failure to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals.
   ‘My contract with the Portugal Football Federation runs out in July 2008. I am very happy in Portugal,’ he said, after a meeting with Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. ‘I am very satisfied that, once again, Portugal have qualified for the Euro 2008.’
   Scolari met with Lula to discuss the setting up of a commission aimed at stemming the exodus of Brazilian footballers to foreign clubs.
   The 2002 World Cup-winning coach has been personally invited by Lula to contribute to the commission which will hold its first meeting next year.
   ‘The commission will meet for the first time at the beginning of next year to discuss ideas suggested by the president and clubs to stem the flight of the stars,’ said Scolari.
   ‘More and more young players are leaving Brazil. Some are losing a little of their Brazilian identity because they live here so little. Measures need to be taken.’

Coach Frank Rijkaard has challenged the Barcelona squad to come out and prove they are united after a turbulent few days caused by midfielder Edmilson’s criticism of team-mates.
   ‘We need to react on the pitch. It is the moment to face up and demonstrate they are committed and that we want to have a good season,’ Rijkaard told a news conference on Friday.
   When asked if he was going to take action against Edmilson, the Dutchman responded: ‘The measure is that the team functions. You always have to think about what is best for the team.’
    Brazilian Edmilson questioned the commitment of some of his colleagues in a television interview during the week, saying that the squad were like a family and every family has black sheep.
   The squad met on Thursday to discuss the matter, without Rijkaard and the coaching staff, and Edmilson apologised to the group.
   ‘I’m not saying what Edmilson said was wrong, just that it wasn’t the appropriate way to do it. It is better to talk about it in the dressing room,’ Rijkaard added. ‘They have decided not to speak in public again on these matters. I have spoken with captain Carles Puyol to get the reaction of the group and we had another meeting this morning with everyone present. I hope that is the end of it.’