South African captain Graeme Smith hit what he described as the best century of his career to lead his team to a series-clinching victory on the fourth day of the third Test against England at Edgbaston on Saturday.
   Smith made an unbeaten 154 as South Africa won by five wickets to take a winning 2-0 lead in the four-Test series. ‘I’ve had some meaningful innings in my life but with the whole situation and for the people back home, it’s bigger than just us, this victory. I’d have to say it’s my best innings,’ said Smith.
   England counterpart Michael Vaughan said defeat was a bitter blow but paid tribute to Smith. ‘We’ve all just witnessed a very, very special innings. The way Graeme Smith came out and played was as good as I’ve seen anyone chase down that sort of target under that sort of pressure.’
   South Africa were set to make 281, by 70 runs the highest successful fourth innings chase in a Test match at Edgbaston and South Africa’s fourth highest of all time.
   It was South Africa’s first series win in England since 1965 and ended a sequence of three series in the country in which they failed to capitalise after going one Test up.
   The victory seemed unlikely when South Africa slumped to 93 for four, with two of the wickets falling to balls from Andrew Flintoff which the batsmen did not see.
   But Smith survived the collapse and found able partners in AB de Villiers (27) who helped him put on 78 for the fifth wicket and Mark Boucher (45 not out), who shared an unbeaten 112-run stand for the sixth wicket.
   ‘I never lost confidence,’ said Smith. ‘I knew we just needed one or two partnership. I was focusing on ten runs at a time, thinking, let’s just get close.’
   South Africa took advantage of a tiring England team and claimed the available extra half hour at the end of an afternoon session which had already lasted for three hours.
   Vaughan said he believed almost until the end that England could win. ‘I felt we were just one wicket away. If we could have got the likes of (Morne) Morkel and (Paul) Harris in on that kind of deck I felt we could have won the game.’
   But Vaughan said South Africa deserved their series win. ‘They’ve played better cricket than us over the three games,’ he said. ‘They’ve given us a lesson on how to bat.’
   Flintoff, who first swung the momentum towards England with a fiery spell on the second evening, made vital breakthroughs with full deliveries which the batsmen appeared not to see.
   He trapped Neil McKenzie leg before for 22 after McKenzie and Smith put on 65 for the first wicket. McKenzie appeared to lose the ball completely and was ducking when the ball hit him on the boot.
   Jacques Kallis also ducked against a ball which struck him on the full on his right thigh in line with the stumps.
   Kallis, bowled by a Flintoff yorker in the first innings which he admitted he did not pick up from the bowler’s hand as it was delivered against the backdrop of the committee room balcony immediately above the sightscreen, showed his anger as he was given out leg before.
   In between Flintoff’s two wickets, Hashim Amla was leg before to an arm ball from left-arm spinner Monty Panesar. Flintoff was rested after taking two for 28 in eight overs but Ashwell Prince was caught behind off James Anderson as South Africa crashed to 93 for four.
   South Africa, leading the four-match series 1-0, earlier bowled out England for 363 in their second innings. Paul Collingwood was last man out for 135.

Storms threaten to hit Beijing on the day of the Games opening ceremony in five days time, weather forecasters warned Sunday, while Olympic head Jacques Rogge fended off the IOC’s own dark clouds.
   Blue skies broke out for a third consecutive day, dissipating worries that Beijing’s normal blanket of heavy smog would disrupt endurance events, as weather officials said strong anti-pollution measures had helped clear the air.
   But any relief from the haze was replaced by concerns that storms would hit the city on the day of the opening ceremony, when world leaders will join crowds at the National Stadium to welcome the athletes and light the Olympic flame.
   Organisers have repeatedly said rain was their biggest worry for the ceremony, which will feature more than 10,000 performers and a massive fireworks display.
   But top officials from the Beijing Meteorological Bureau confirmed Sunday that bad weather was certain for August 8, although they held out hope that the skies may clear by the time the evening ceremony begins.
   ‘Specifically on the 8th, the weather in Beijing will be cloudy and overcast and we will see some rain showers and thunder showers,’ said Wang Jianjie, deputy director of the bureau.
   Wang also warned that co-host cities, such as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Qingdao, could be hit by typhoons heading in from the Pacific Ocean during the August 8-24 Games.
   The clear skies above Beijing faded in the afternoon as a light haze fell over the city, but Wang said the recent improvement was a result of favourable weather conditions and drastic high-profile anti-pollution measures.
   ‘Good weather has a great deal to do with the natural conditions but whether this can be maintained has a lot to do with our pollution control measures because they also have a lot to do with the improvement,’ she told reporters.
   One million of the city’s 3.3 million cars have been taken off the roads and more than 100 heavily polluting factories and building sites closed down in recent weeks as Beijing tries to prevent any cancellation of endurance events.
   Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said Sunday the city would enjoy long-lasting benefits from hosting the Olympics.
   ‘We will not only host a quality and unique Games, but build a more scenic, greener and more civilised city in a sustainable manner,’ Wen said after watching the men’s national basketball squad practice, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
   Meanwhile, Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, tried to defuse the row over Internet censorship for foreign reporters and insisted he thought Beijing would host an outstanding Games.
   Rogge said no deal had been cut with Chinese authorities to allow censorship of sensitive sites, after journalists arrived this week to find they could not access a wide range of websites.
   ‘The conditions you were working in on Tuesday were not good,’ Rogge told reporters late Saturday.
   However, he stopped short of apologising, saying many of the sites had since been unblocked and a list of others were being examined with Beijing organisers.
   ‘I am not going to make an apology for something that the IOC is not responsible for. We are not running the Internet in China,’ said Rogge, who had previously promised unfettered Internet access for foreign reporters.
   Rogge compared the organisation of the Beijing event favourably with Athens four years ago, which was beset by worries over whether the venues would be completed in time for the Games.
   ‘Today we have absolutely no concern for the organisation,’ he said.
   ‘I am sure that come the 9th of August, the day after the opening ceremony, the magic of the Games and the flawless organisation will take over,’ he added.
   The Olympic torch relay passed through the earthquake-devastated region of Sichuan on Sunday as part of its global journey to Beijing, which included protest-marred legs in Paris and London.
   Sichuan is still recovering from the effects of the 8.0-magnitude quake that ripped through the area on May 12, leaving around 87,000 people dead or missing.

Top seed Dhaka Abahani were placed in the toughest group in the draw of the 16-team final round of the Citycell Federation Cup Football Tournament on Sunday.
   Dhaka Abahani were drawn in Group B with Chittagong Mohammedan, Chittagong Abahani and Jatrabari KC. The final round is scheduled to kick off on Wednesday.
   Bangladesh Football Federation decided to pick the four top teams of the B league as the top seeds leaving aside the defending champions Brothers Union and runners-up Muktijoddha as the tournament’s last edition was held three years ago in 2005.
   So Dhaka Abahani, Dhaka Mohammedan, the champions and the runners-up of the B league and Muktijoddha and Sheikh Russell the third and fourth placed teams were placed in four groups.
   Group B is considered as the toughest as Dhaka Abahani, Chittagong Mohammedan, Chittagong Abahani are B league teams having foreign recruits. The other one Jatrabari are also a Dhaka-based club.
   Group A contains Muktijoddha, Farashganj, Khulna Abahani and Dhaka Wanderers with the first two clearly superior sides.
   Sheikh Russell are undoubtedly the top team of Group C. Brothers Union, Victoria and BKSP are the other teams of the group.
   Group D also consists of three B league teams but Dhaka Mohammedan are the title contenders.
   Of the other two B league sides, Arambagh are considered as a medium level outfit while Rahmatganj were at the bottom of the table in last edition the league.
   TV star couple Zahid Hasan and Sadia Islam Mou graced the draw ceremony as the special guests. Former footballers Zakaria Pintu, Pratap Hazra, Shantu, Selim, Mosabber, Joshi, Ilias, Kaikobad, Bashir Ahmed, Kaiser Hamid, Yusuf, Manik and Azmat picked the names of the teams.
   BFF senior vice-president Abdus Salam Murshedi conducted the draw ceremony. Syed Tanzin Huq, DGM marketing of Citycell, was also present.
   Group A: Muktijoddha, Farashganj, Khulna Abahani, Dhaka Wanderers
   Group B: Dhaka Abahani, Chittagong Mohammedan, Chittagong Abahani, Jatrabari KC
   Group C: Sheikh Russell KC, Brothers Union, Victoria SC, BKSP
   Group D: Dhaka Mohammedan, Arambagh, Rahmatganj, Sunrise SC.

When Laurie Lever turned 60 last October, the last thing on his mind was retirement with the Australian show jumper focused on riding in his first Olympics.
   Lever is one of a growing number of older athletes competing in the Olympics rather than watching from the stands with Japanese horseman Hiroshi Hoketsu leading the pack at Beijing, returning to the Games after a 44-year break aged 67.
   US swimmer Dara Torres, who is 41 and has a two-year-old daughter, created a media stir by making it to her fifth Olympics as the oldest American to swim at the Games.
   While Olympians are revered for athleticism, discipline and determination, modern competitors are showing experience is also an asset and sporting careers can be extended using new training techniques and funded with contracts, endorsements and subsidies.
   ‘We are a fitter generation,’ said Lever, whose appearance on Ashleigh Drossel Dan in the show jumping in Hong Kong is believed to make him the oldest debutant at the 2008 Games.
   Olympics historian David Wallechinsky, who has written many Olympics reference books, said the average age of Olympians has been increasing as athletes turned professional.
   ‘Before you were lucky to be in one, maybe two Olympics as you had to go and earn a living,’ said Wallechinsky, vice-president of the International Society of Olympic Historians.
   ‘But now athletes can make a living through marketing and endorsements so they can extend their careers.’
   Sports academics are not surprised by the ability of athletes to remain competitive longer and expect increasing number of over 40s to stay competing at top level sport as training techniques and technology continue to improve.
   Hoketsu, who is based in Germany, has played down the fuss about him competing at the age of 67 on his mare Whisper although he has referred to himself as ‘the hope for old men.’
   Hoketsu may be the oldest competitor in the 2008 Games but the title of oldest Olympian is held by Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, who collected his sixth medal at the 1920 Antwerp Games aged 72 years and 280 days.
   Hoketsu is also not the only 2008 competitor over 60. Add to the list Canadian show jumper Ian Millar, 61, competing in his ninth Olympics.
   There are many athletes well into their 40s and 50s in other sports besides equestrian. Canadian trap shooter Susan Nattrass is 57, Canadian fencer Luan Jujie is 50, and Australian sailor Iain Murray is making his Olympics debut aged 50.
   Americans Richard Johnson, archery, is 52, Libby Callahan, shooting, is 56, and British horseman Nick Skelton is 50.
   French cyclist Jeannie Longo is competing in her eighth Games at the age of 49 and it is the second Olympics for Israeli marathon runner Haile Satayin whose passport says he is 53.
   Dr. Michael Joyner, an anesthesiologist at the US Mayo Clinic who studies the effects of ageing on athletes, said normal ‘physiological’ ageing starts at 30 but athletes can delay this until their late 30s or 40s with prolonged, intense training.
   He said lab data showed that for physiological factors associated with endurance sports the decline is about 10 per cent per decade starting at 30 but this can be halved with continued hard training, especially if it remained intense.
   ‘If you look at top performers in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, the volume of training (hours per day) is sometimes down, but they keep the intensity high. They usually also do things to prevent age-associated declines in muscle mass,’ he said.
   But Joyner said that while all elite athletes had some physical gifts it was also their will to win and ability to perform under pressure that made them succeed.
   ‘All things being equal the person who can put forth a maximum effort and at the same time relax has a real edge. A lot of it is learning how to compete in a relaxed way when the pressure is on,’ he told Reuters.

Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood announced on Sunday they were stepping down as England’s Test and one-day captains.
   Vaughan’s decision comes after Saturday’s five-wicket defeat against South Africa in the third Test at Edgbaston which gave the Proteas an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series and their first series win in England since 1965.
   It meant the 33-year-old batsman had overseen three series losses against top-class opposition since returning from a career-threatening knee injury.
   His announcement was followed by that of 32-year-old Durham all-rounder Collingwood, who said in a statement that his game had suffered as a result of taking on the one-day captaincy.
   ‘I’ve made the decision to stand down as England captain,’ a tearful Vaughan told a press conference.
   ‘It’s the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make but also the easiest.
   ‘The hardest because I’m giving away the job I’ve loved for the last five years, one I’ve put my heart and soul into, but also the easiest because my mind has told me to pack it in.
   ‘I felt if I kept going my career could come to an abrupt end - hopefully, this can prolong my career.
   ‘I will carry on playing because I think there are a lot more runs in me.
   ‘This decision will prolong my career. I’m moving better than ever in the field so hopefully this decision will make my last few years a very exciting time.’
   Vaughan said he does not want to be considered for the final Test of the series and would take a break to consider his future before coming back and finishing the season for county cricket side Yorkshire.
   ‘I will take a break from the game so I won’t be playing at The Oval,’ he said.
   ‘I just want to try and freshen up the mind and get back to playing as a batsman. I do believe these could be the best years of my playing career.
   ‘That’s the one thing I want to get back doing.’
   And Vaughan revealed he had first considered resigning at the start of the year during the tour of New Zealand, when England came back from 1-0 down to win 2-1.
   ‘In New Zealand I had a few thoughts that I might go,’ said Vaughan.
   ‘It is a fairytale to captain your country but it hasn’t had a fairytale ending. I know that it is the right time because my mind told me it was. My body is working well but my mind is not.
   ‘I wish whoever gets the job all the luck in the world, it’s a great privilege.’
   England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Hugh Morris hailed Vaughan’s influence since he took charge of the team in 2003.
   ‘Michael led from the front and led with honesty and integrity every step of the way,’ Morris said.
   ‘He took the England captaincy to new heights. Michael was the best possible ambassador for the game and his record as captain speaks volumes for the character he instilled in the dressing room.’
   Regarding Collingwood, Morris added: ‘Paul feels this is the best decision in terms of benefiting the England team and his contribution to the team.
   ‘We are extremely grateful for way Paul led the one-day side since last year.’
   Of the decision over the new captain or captains, Morris added: ‘The selection committee is currently considering the squad and captain for the fourth Test and Natwest series. These squads, along with the captain, will be announced tomorrow (Monday).’
   Collingwood said in a statement: ‘I’ve made the decision to step down as England’s one-day captain as I want to give myself the best chance to perform for England and enjoy my cricket.
   ‘Whilst I am humbled to have been given the opportunity to captain England’s one-day side, I feel the captaincy diminished my ability to perform for England across all forms of the game.
   ‘I feel the England captaincy impacted on my ability to enjoy my cricket and contribute to the team.
   ‘I’ve always enjoyed representing my country at the highest level and it has always been my ambition to play cricket, across all forms of the game, but I’ve found the extra workload of the captaincy to be very difficult.
   ‘The last thing I want is for the captaincy to impact my performance and that of the team which is why I’ve arrived at this decision after a huge amount of consideration.
   ‘I will continue to make myself available to England for all forms of cricket and look forward to playing a significant role in England’s future success.’
   Kevin Pietersen is favourite to be appointed both Test and one-day captain, but other candidates include Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook and Robert Key.

Skipper Anil Kumble on Sunday lauded opener Virender Sehwag and teenage paceman Ishant Sharma for playing key roles in India’s series-levelling victory against Sri Lanka here.
   India, who lost the opening match of the three-Test series by an innings and 239 runs in Colombo, came back strongly to win the second game by 170 runs with a day to spare. The final Test starts in Colombo on August 8.
   Sri Lanka were shot out for 136 chasing a 307-run target, with Sharma doing the early damage to finish with 3-20 off 15 overs.
   ‘I think the opening partnerships in both the innings was a turning point of the match. Sehwag getting a double-hundred and giving fantastic starts with Gautam Gambhir was very important,’ Kumble said.
   Sehwag and Gambhir put on 167 for the opening wicket in the first innings and 90 in the second. Sehwag made an unbeaten 201 and 50, while Gambhir scored successive half-centuries.
   ‘He (Sehwag) is a very good player and the way he scored runs in both the innings was great. Getting 201 in a total of 329 is something amazing,’ said the Indian captain.
   ‘It was also amazing the way Harbhajan Singh bowled in both the innings and then Ishant and Zaheer Khan today.
   ‘It was something special from the 19-year-old (Sharma). Everybody saw what he is capable of. It augurs really well going into the last Test.’
   Off-spinner Harbhajan grabbed 10 wickets in the match, his fifth haul of 10 or more wickets in a Test.
   Kumble said he was confident his bowlers were capable of defending the target.
   ‘I was never worried. You cannot say 300-350 is enough, but on this wicket if you have 300 and the way our new-ball bowlers bowled was amazing,’ he said.
   ‘Getting three wickets (for 10 runs) within 40 minutes was crucial and that put Sri Lanka on the backfoot.’
   The Indian captain said he was confident his team would put in yet another impressive performance in the final Test, where Sri Lanka are expected to again rely on their spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis.
   ‘I am really proud of the way we played in this Test. We are confident of putting up a good show and if we repeat this performance we will get a good result,’ said Kumble.
   ‘As the series goes on, you try and figure out the best possible ways to handle the spinners. They are quality spinners. Mendis is a mystery to some of us, but Sehwag has shown that you can get runs against the spinners.’
   Mendis and Muralitharan have so far shared 34 wickets in two matches.
   Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene conceded the loss of early wickets affected their chances of chasing the target.
   ‘It was important to get a good start when you are chasing any total, which we did not get. Losing three wickets for 10 runs was not ideal and that’s where we probably lost the game,’ he said.
   ‘We had a plan, but when you lose three quick wickets it is very difficult to fight back. Our batting was not consistent enough. I thought we could give them a better fight.’
   Jayawardene was all praise for unorthodox spinner Mendis, who took a maiden 10-wicket haul in only his second Test.
   ‘I am very happy for Ajantha. He bowled brilliantly and supported the other bowlers as well, but it is very disappointing to lose the game in which he has taken 10 wickets,’ he said.
   ‘The bowling unit fought really well throughout the Test and created opportunities for us.’

The president of Bangladesh Olympic Association General Moeen U Ahmed urged the Bangladesh athletes to produce their best in the Beijing Olympics and lift the image of the country.
   The BOA chief was speaking at a reception ceremony for the Bangladesh Olympic contingent at the Kurmitiola Golf Club on Sunday. Moeen advised the athletes to maintain discipline and not to do anything detrimental to the national image.
   ‘Olympics are the greatest sporting extravaganza. Be keen to use the platform to lift Bangladesh’s image,’ said Moeen.
   BOA secretary general Kutubuddin Ahmed, chef de mission Major General Shakil Ahmed, athletes Nazmunnahar Beauty, Abu Abdullah, shooters Sharmin Akhter, Imam Hossain, swimmers Dolly Akhter and Rubel Rana and youth camp participants Abu Hena Kaiser and Sharlin Manjur are the members of Bangladesh contingent.

The Bangladesh A team were all out for 117 runs in 39.5 overs against Durham in their third and final one-day match on England tour at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street on Sunday.
   Left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain was unbeaten on 26 to be the top-scorer for the side while wicketkeeper Dhiman Ghosh made 24.
   Skipper Junaed Siddique (18) and number 11 Rubel Hossain (14) were the other two batsmen to have reached the double figure.
   The total could have been worse had Mosharraf and Rubel not added 38 runs in the 10th-wicket partnership. Bowlers hit back to reduce Durham 35-3 when the last reports came in.

Five of the eight quarter-final slots of men’s singles in the Dhaka Open Tennis were decided at the National Tennis Complex on Sunday.
   In the day’s matches, Amal Roy (NTC) overpowered Zakir Hossain (Uttara Club) 6-0, 6-1, Laxman Lal (American Club) defeated Nurul Islam (NTC) 6-2, 6-1, Prithul Mandal (ZITC) beat Milon Hossain (NTC) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, Murad Hossain (NTC) outplayed Dipu Lal (Nordic Club) 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 and Ranjan Ram (NTC) beat Kanchan Ram (Nordic Club) 6-4, 6-3 to reach the last eight.

Bangladesh may get the warm-up opportunities in Australia they spurned to participate in a four-nation Twnety20 tournament in Canada as the Cricket Australia responded positively to a request by the Bangladesh Cricket Board, said an official on Sunday.
   Bangladesh were scheduled to play a four-day match and three limited-over games before the August 31-September 6 series, but the BCB had curtailed the four-day game for a four-nation tournament.
   Bangladesh, Pakistan, West Indies and hosts Canada were supposed to feature in the tournament from August 14 to 17. But the organisers failed to convince West Indies for participation which led to the postponement of the tournament until October.
   It prompted the BCB to request Australia to revive the four-day game and they readily agreed. However, instead of the four-day match, Australia said they can at best arrange two additional one-day games. The final decision in this regard will be taken today.
   ‘The CA said they can arrange two more one-day games with the three matches previously agreed upon. But the final decision has been delayed since today (Sunday) is public holiday in Australia,’ BCB’s acting chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury told New Age.
   Chowdhury said if they make the decision finally Bangladesh may fly to Australia on August 15, five days before the current schedule.

Novak Djokovic handed number one in waiting Rafael Nadal his first defeat in nearly three months, stunning the Spaniard 6-1, 7-5 to reach the final of the Cincinnati Masters.
   The Serbian number three seed snapped a 32-match win streak for Nadal, who was last defeated on May 7 by compatriot and former No.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in Rome, with Nadal suffering from foot blisters.
   ‘I played the best summer hard season in my life, so I’m very happy for that,’ said Nadal, who is 64-8 on the season with seven titles. ‘Today he played unbelievable in the first set.
   ‘In the second set I felt well and in some moments I felt I was playing better than him. Finally, he beat me. I just congratulate him because he’s playing well.’
   Djokovic is re-emerging as a force in the game just two days after Roger Federer lost his grip on the top ranking after four-and-a-half years. The Swiss star lost in the third round to Ivo Karlovic.
   Djokovic has defeated Nadal in four of their six matches on hardcourt.
   ‘Day after day I’m getting stronger in the segment of my game which is really important coming up to the final stages of the tournament,’ said the winner.
   ‘Rafa always gives 100 percent in every match and on any surface. It was a challenge and I accepted it.’
   Djokovic will line up in a revenge repeat of last week’s losing quarter-final in Toronto when he takes on Andy Murray.
   Despite his loss and whatever happens at the Beijing Olympics, Nadal will take over the top ranking from Federer on August 18 as computer points drop off.
   Djokovic, the Australian Open champion and winner of two Masters shields already this season, will climb to second in the 2008 season points race.
   Djokovic ripped off from a standing start, reaching a 5-0 lead after just 19 minutes before second seed Nadal got on the scoreboard. The Serb won the opener in 25 minutes, with 11 winners versus only two for Nadal.
   Djokovic, who won the first eight points of the evening, lost only four points on serve in the opening phase.
   Nadal lifted slightly in the second set, but Djokovic answered by saving the lone break point he faced in the sixth game to level 3-3.
   The third seed ended that game with his fifth ace after coming from 0-30 and broke Nadal in the penultimate game of the match.
   ‘I feel happy because for sure I will be number one,’ said Nadal. ‘It’s been hard work for a long, long time.
   ‘But there’s to time to enjoy. I have Olympics in one week.’

The US swim team are chomping at the bit in the countdown to Beijing after an ideal preparation, with head coach Mark Schubert predicting another titantic battle with fellow superpower Australia.
   Always formidable in the Olympic pool, the United States will have a squad of proven performers at Beijing’s Water Cube in their bid to maintain their swimming superiority.
   With the aid of Speedo’s new LZR Racer form-fitting bodysuit, world records are set to fall—and Schubert acknowledges the meet will be one of the fastest ever.
   ‘Over the last two years technology has obviously improved greatly and that technology will help, but the best racers will still win,’ he said in Singapore, where the team enjoyed what they said was ‘a dream training camp’.
   ‘Yes, it will be faster and maybe it’s going to be the toughest. But to me it is still all about racing, and the people who know how to race well and are prepared for it will do the best.’
   Spearheading the team is Michael Phelps, who won six gold and two bronze in Athens.
   He will tackle five individual events, in four of which he holds the world record—the 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly and the 200m and 400m individual medleys.
   ‘This is probably some of the best training I’ve done in quite some time and, you know, we’re all getting so much more excited, and the closer we get we can hardly wait for the Olympics to actually come,’ said Phelps.
   His fifth individual event could well turn out to be a tussle with teammate Ian Crocker in the 100m butterfly, in which Crocker holds the world record but trails in his head-to-head rivalry with Phelps.
   Brendan Hansen, who will go hammer and tong with Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima for the 100m breakstroke title, echoed the sentiments of Phelps.
   ‘Most of the team has been chomping at the bit this last week, waiting for the week to go by. We are definitely anxious to get to Beijing and for the Games to get started,’ he said.
   The men’s team is stronger than the women’s.
   Katie Hoff has posted the fastest times of 2008 in the 200 and 800 freestyles and the 400 medley, in which she set a world record at trials.
   She also owns the second-fastest times of the year in the 400m free and 200m medley, but she’ll face tough medley competition from Australia’s Stephanie Rice.
   Only two other women’s world records belong to Americans—Natalie Coughlin’s 100m backstroke mark and world champion Margaret Hoelzer in the 200m back.
   While the depth of swimming worldwide has improved considerably since Athens, Schubert still sees Australia as the USA’s great rival.
   ‘We enjoy competing against the Australians. They just seem to be our natural rivals. We have a great deal of respect for them, particularly for creating so may great swimmers from such a small country,’ he said.
   ‘When we have a chance to race against them, we always relish it.’
   Despite the relaxed atmosphere at the Singapore camp, the team has had to cope with some setbacks: breaststroke medal contender Jessica Hardy tested positive for a banned substance at the US trials.
   Breaststroker Eric Shanteau meanwhile is heading to Beijing battling testicular cancer, while Dara Torres’s coach is suffering a potentially deadly blood disorder.

Legend Grant Hackett arrived here Sunday at the head of Australia’s 42-strong swimming team and said that he was ready to try and grab an unprecedented third 1500m Olympic title.
   ‘I am confident I can get the best out of myself. I have prepared very well,’ said Hackett, 28. ‘I am feeling fit and ready to race.’
   Australia are expected to battle with the United States for swimming dominance at the August 8-24 Games and include six world record holders in their squad.
   Coach Alan Thompson admitted that the pressure was on now that the team had arrived in Beijing after a secluded week-long training camp in Malaysia.
   ‘We have been a little bit sheltered for the last couple of days but I think this (arrival in Beijing) will certainly bring it home to the kids that the whole of the world is watching, as well as Australia,’ he said.
   Hackett is attempting what no man has ever done before—three consecutive Olympic titles over the most gruelling event, the 1500m.
   ‘I certainly realise the attention and expectations that go with that but at the same time I probably feel more relaxed for this Olympics than for the last two,’ he said.
   Libby Trickett, who holds the 50m and 100m freestyle world records, and Leisel Jones, the 100m and 200m breaststroke world record holder, are among the best hopes for Australian gold at the Games along with Hackett.
   Also in the squad are world record holders Jess Schipper, who holds the men’s 200m butterfly best time, Eamon Sullivan, the 50m freestyle holder, and Stephanie Rice, the fastest woman ever in the 200m individual medley.
   Thompson said the squad was in excellent shape and morale was high.
   ‘We had a very good training camp and everyone was very happy with their performances. Everyone is healthy—touch wood—and we hope we keep it that way.’

US swimming sensation Michael Phelps has broken countless world records and won a hatful of Olympic medals, and it has all been achieved with a blank mind.
   The 23-year-old, who is aiming for an unprecedented eight gold medals in Beijing, revealed that when he hits the water, he is totally in the zone.
   ‘Absolutely nothing,’ Phelps said when asked what went through his mind while racing.
   ‘Someone asked me the other day what I think about when I push off or when I first get in the water, and my answer was ‘I have no idea’.
   ‘I don’t think about anything much when I’m in the water. It’s something l’ve done pretty much my whole career and it works. I’m not going to change it now.’
   The 23-year-old is aiming to better Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals at one Games.
   He fell short of that goal in Athens four years ago, coming away with six gold medals and two bronze.
   The American will swim the same events in Beijing that he tackled in Athens: the 200m and 400m individual medleys, the 100m and 200m butterflies, the 200m freestyle, and the three relays.
   ‘As of right now I feel the best I have ever felt,’ he said after a week training at the Singapore Island Country Club with the rest of the US team.

Jamaica’s 100m world record holder Usain Bolt will attempt the 100m/200m double at the Beijing Olympics, agent Norman Peart said.
   Peart, one of the agents of the sprinter, said: ‘He is going to double up. That’s certain. I have just received confirmation from his coach Glen Mills.’
   Bolt, who ran his world record run of 9.72sec in New York on May 31, is expected to hotly challenge for the 100m Olympic crown with compatriot Asafa Powell and American Tyson Gay. However the 200m is Bolt’s favourite event.
   Bolt, Powell and Gay hold the eight best 100m performances in history.
   Peart added that Bolt’s decision to double up was not a surprise. ‘It was clear that the coach was going to let him do it (run both races.) We listen to our athletes and if he tells us he wants to run the double, it’s up to us to organise the best programme for him.’

With a forcing cut off David Wainwright for four, Mark Ramprakash finally became the 25th man in history to score 100 first-class hundreds when he notched three figures for Surrey against Yorkshire.
   The last player to achieve the milestone was Graeme Hick, in 1998, and the other 23 names include the grand figures of WG Grace, Don Bradman, Denis Compton and Wally Hammond. For all Ramprakash’s remarkable form since 2006, he has struggled this season: his last hundred, the 99th of his career, came at the start of May against Sussex. Today’s knock was his 11th innings since hovering on a mere 99 hundreds, during which agonising time his top-score was 48.
   The wait is now over, however, as Ramprakash reached his third century of the season from 196 balls with nine fours and a six.
   ‘When I started out I never dreamed about making that many hundreds but I’ll certainly take it now,’ he said. ‘I feel honoured to join such a high calibre of names who have also achieved the feat. It’s definitely something I’ll cherish for the rest of my days.

A South African squad member was told Saturday he could not place a towel over a window which was blamed for the dismissal of two batsmen on the fourth day of the third Test at Edgbaston.
   Robbie Peterson was sent to cover up the window, on the balcony above the pavilion sightscreen, after Neil McKenzie and Jacques Kallis fell to full pitched balls by Andrew Flintoff which they did not pick up.
   The South Africans claimed that they could not see the ball out of Flintoff’s hand, which extended above the sightscreen, because of glare from the window.

Astrology expert Raymond Lo has a word of warning for China’s Olympic leaders – they should wear an ox pendant to ward off bad karma at the Olympics.
   The Beijing Games open at eight minutes past eight o’clock in the evening on the 8th day of the 8th month in 2008, a time that traditionally offers the perfect combination of good luck and prosperity.
   The Olympics are being staged in the Year of the Rat but, according to Chinese animal astrology, that could spell trouble for anyone born in the Year of the Horse.
   Lo, a noted exponent in Hong Kong of the ancient art of feng shui, said, ‘The clash between the Rat and the Horse is a serious clash between water and fire.
   ‘For people born in the Year of the Horse, it is recommended that they wear a pendant of an ox which will help to attract away the Rat so as to minimise the influence of the clash.’
   He pinpointed the birthdays of China’s leaders – President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao – were both born in 1942, the Year of the Horse in the 12-year cycle of Chinese animal astrology.
   In a telephone interview from Hong Kong, Lo explained, ‘The traditional belief is that you need an animal to attract away the rat.’
   But he was full of optimism for China’s big day on the world stage on 8/08/2008. For the number eight is lucky in Chinese as it is pronounced like the word ‘Fa’ which is part of the expression meaning ‘to get wealthy.’
   ‘According to the calendar it is an auspicious day. There is nothing wrong with choosing this date, it still represents a positive energy.’ Marriage registration offices in Beijing are predicting that more than 9,000 couples will tie the knot on August 8.
   ‘If you pick a good day, this indicates a smooth beginning to the marriage,’ Lo said.
   But, as China has learnt to its cost in a turbulent 2008, not all is positive energy in the Year of the Rat, which also symbolises the turbulent relationship between earth and water.
   China was hit by crippling blizzards at the start of the year, rioting erupted in Tibet which prompted worldwide protests surrounding the Olympic torch relay and then the Sichuan earthquake struck.
   Those grim milestones for China had an intriguing symmetry.
   The snowstorms struck on 25/01. 2+5+1=8.
   The Tibet riots erupted on 14/03. 1+4+3=8.
   The earthquake struck on 12/05. 1+2+5=8. That was also 88 days before the start of the Olympics.
   ‘The number eight can be negative as well,’ Lo warned – and the worst may not be over.
   ‘You can see water trouble will be stronger in the second half of the year because of these seasonal elements,’ he said.
   ‘For example the Tsunami took place in December in 2004. Usually water is more powerful in the months after August.’

Beijing residents are literally waking up to new surprises every day as the beautification of a normally grey and dusty capital gathers pace ahead of the Olympics.
   From one day to the next, the city is changing – gaining greenery, fresh paint and colour with a new bed of flowers here, a string of bright red lanterns there, and a patch of parkland thrown in for good measure.
   Repainting, planting, refurbishing and retouching have grown into Beijing’s busiest industry in the final run-up to the August 8-24 Games, carried out by an army of workers with spades, brushes, hammers and pots of paint.
   North of the town centre on the way to the main Olympic stadium, streets like Dongzhimen, a main thoroughfare, are overrun by work gangs with faces obscured behind cotton masks to keep off the sun, dust and pollution.
   They are busily giving the area a final makeover – repainting the pedestrian barriers or hanging colourful Olympic banners with the Beijing Games slogan ‘One World, One Dream’ above the streets.
   Beijing’s construction sites, the size of entire city blocks, are surrounded by high barriers that were once covered with advertising posters for glamorous fashion houses, high-end perfumes and other luxury goods.
   Those ads have been torn down and replaced by posters welcoming the Olympics to Beijing in several languages on a yellow and green backdrop.
   ‘As hosts of the Games, let’s all contribute to the construction of a new Beijing,’ reads one of the posters.
   The city’s major hotels are also putting on their finery – flowers and fresh paint, but also lavish exterior light shows that flash up the five Olympic rings or even figures of athletes taking part in various sports.
   Most of them have adorned their lobbies with brightly coloured decorations, with the five baby doll Olympic mascots, known as the fuwa, extremely popular.
   ‘Beijing is ready,’ said Wang Lianying, who is organising the floral decorations for the city government. ‘This is a way of showing our unity, enthusiasm, support and blessing to athletes.’
   Across the lane from the centuries-old Lama Temple, just north of the city centre, a vast construction site has been transformed overnight into a garden with a turreted castle as its centrepiece.
   A few hundred metres up the road, the forecourt of a metro station is now a multi-coloured bed of flowers depicting the Beijing Olympic emblem – the white figure of a running man on a deep red background.
   Downtown Tiananmen Square, the world’s biggest city square, is also decked out in Olympic glory with complicated flower arrangements flanking the sides, from which emerges once more the Games emblem standing 20 metres high.
   Close by, massive yellow letters spell out ‘One World, One Dream’.
   Officials say that 30,000 Chinese farmers were put to work to produce an estimated 70 million flowers that will beautify the country for the Olympics, including 40 million for Beijing alone.
   It makes for a ‘harmonious and pretty environment,’ said Wang Sumei, the deputy director of the Beijing landscape and forestation bureau.
   She explains that researchers have been working for years on breeding hardier plants that can stand the typical heat and humidity of a Beijing August.
   Kilometre after kilometre of greenhouses in the Beijing suburbs are churning out the plants in pots that are being placed all over the city centre, said Sun. More are in reserve to replace plants which fail to stand up to the rigorous conditions.

Heurelho Gomes was being deadly serious when he insisted that winning the Premier League was his new club’s target for the forthcoming campaign.
   It was a claim greeted with incredulity by the assembled media, but if nothing else it reiterated that few clubs can match Tottenham when it comes to vaulting ambition.
   The north Londoners have long been renowned as one of the Premier League’s freest spenders ever since they were taken over by the media and sports company ENIC in 2001, and they have hardly bucked the trend this close-season.
   In addition to Gomes, plucked from PSV Eindhoven for around eight million pounds (10 million euros), manager Juande Ramos has spent a further 40 million pounds on Mexican midfielder Giovani Dos Santos, Blackburn’s talented winger David Bentley and, perhaps most notably, Luka Modric.
   Tottenham beat off interest from a host of Europe’s top clubs to prise the Croatian midfielder from Dinamo Zagreb.
   There should be more arrivals before Spurs’ league curtain-raiser against Middlesbrough on August 16 and their challenge is to transform the club from flaky also-rans to genuine challengers.
   Gomes’s title hopes might be unrealistic for a team whose achievement in winning the League Cup was muffled by a mid-table league finish, but if there is a side which could break the stranglehold of England’s ‘Big Four’ of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool - it could yet be Spurs.
   The club has paid for its failure to book a place at Europe’s top table. Robbie Keane left for Liverpool, while Dimitar Berbatov is still agitating for a move to Old Trafford, believing his talents deserve a grander stage.
   Ramos will also be twitchy at his team’s defensive record, which bordered on the abysmal last term. Spurs leaked 61 league goals and conceded three or more on 10 occasions, the sorts of statistics which will make Ramos – whose reputation in La Liga was forged on solidity rather than swagger – blanch.
   ‘I don’t think the way we finished the league was acceptable,’ Michael Dawson said.
   ‘As players we set ourselves standards and the position we finished in the league (11th) was disappointing and we weren’t satisfied with it.
   ‘But we’re confident we can challenge for the top four this season. If you look at the signings we have made that shows the ambition of the club and they will all bring quality to the team.’
   Whatever Spurs achieve, there is little doubt they will prove the neutral’s choice. Modric is a sumptuous talent, puffed with confidence from his performances with Croatia at Euro 2008, and at 22 he will only get better.
   Giovani, meanwhile, makes up for his lack of stature with the sort of quicksilver footwork which can leave defenders suffering dizzy spells.
   Both will ensure that Tottenham do not neglect their purist principles, although it is Ramos’ job to ensure there is more substance to his side this year.
   The former Sevilla head coach is approaching his task with typical pragmatism.
   ‘We have to be realistic,’ he said. ‘It’s clear the top four are made up of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
   They are the teams who in the last few years have taken the Champions League places and it is very difficult to break into that group.

A classy Liverpool comprehensively swatted Rangers 4-0 in a pre-season friendly at Ibrox on Saturday.
   The English Premiership giants cruised to victory with a first-half strike from Fernando Torres followed by second-half goals from David Ngog, Yossi Benayoun and Xabi Alonso.
   Both teams had fielded strong line-ups with Liverpool coach Rafael Benitz opting to try out his new strike partnership of Torres and Robbie Keane for the first time and Rangers manager Walter Smith had to admit he had no complaints about the result.
   ‘We didn’t take a lot from the game apart from the fact we were well beaten. There are no excuses from our point of view.
   ‘Overall Liverpool were better and I have no complaints about the result.’
   Benitez agreed his side controlled the match.
   ‘From the start of the game we wanted to press and we wanted to win against a good team.
   ‘In the second half, Rangers needed to go forward in front of their supporters and they left more spaces and we have the quality to play the counter attack,’ said the Spaniard.
   The home side had the better of the opening exchanges, with Lee McCulloch unlucky to see his low drive from the edge of the box go just wide of Liverpool keeper Diego Cavalieri’s left-hand post in the fourth minute before Scottish international Kenny Miller blasted a shot over the bar.
   Liverpool soon settled and Euro 2008 hero Torres’ pace was soon causing problems for the home side.
   The Spanish striker had a great opportunity in the 10th minute when Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard found him with a pass in the box. But Torres’ touch was heavy and Gers’ keeper Allan McGregor rushed out to save at his feet.
   The Spaniard soon had the better of McGregor though, when he opened the scoring in the 23rd minute.
   The Rangers keeper could only palm a powerful shot from 30 yards out from Frenchman Damien Plessis into the path of Torres, who tapped the ball in from six yards.
   McGregor’s gloves were stung again in the 30th minute when Gerrard fired a shot at him.
   But Rangers should have gone in at half-time level when Nacho Novo missed a chance to equalise.
   The diminutive striker was played clear into the box by a clever ball from Kenny Miller, but after knocking the ball past Cavalieri his shot was somehow blocked on the line by Italian defender Andrea Dossena.
   Both teams made five changes at the break but it made little difference to the pace of the game.
   Rangers came close in the 50th minute when Jean-Claude Darcheville, on for Miller, played the ball across the box which Cavalieri did well to get to before the advancing Novo.

Real Madrid defeated Hamburg 2-1 in the Emirates Cup on Saturday then set their sights on completing a swoop for the German club’s playmaker Rafael van der Vaart.
   Van der Vaart was left out of the Hamburg line-up for the pre-season friendly at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium while negotiations continued over his proposed move to Real.
   Hamburg are willing to sell the Holland midfielder if Real meet their 10 million euros valuation and, with the discussions close to a conclusion, there was never any chance van der Vaart would be on show in north London.
   The 25-year-old could be confirmed as a Madrid player by early next week according to reports in Spain, but it was young midfielder Daniel Parejo who took centre-stage for Bernd Schuster’s side here.
   Ruud Van Nistelrooy, booed by Arsenal fans who still remember his time at Manchester United, broke the deadlock in the 25th minute with a simple tap-in from Michel Salgado’s low cross.
   Mohamed Zidan brought Hamburg level when he curled a superb strike into the far corner of Jerzey Dudek’s goal from the edge of the area in the 53rd minute.
   But Parejo, 19, won it with five minutes left when the Spaniard found space to head in Juan Miguel Callejon’s cross from close range.

An impressive four-goal rout by Nicolas Anelka helped English Premier side Chelsea thrash Italian giants AC Milan 5-0 in Sunday’s pre-season Railway Cup tournament here.
   Chelsea got off to a flyer after just two minutes, taking the lead through a Frank Lampard freekick, which Milan goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac was unable to deal with.
   Six minutes later Anelka netted the first of his tally with a precise shot from the edge of the box. The French international made it 3-0 in the 18th minute to give Chelsea a commanding lead in the third-place play-off, sending the ball into an unguarded net after an error by Kalac.
   Six minutes after the break Anelka notched up his hat-trick, nodding home from close range after a cross from fellow Frenchman Florent Malouda.
   Anelka rounded off his scoring feat in the 58th minute when he got on to the end of another Malouda in-swinger.
   Hosts Lokomotiv Moscow are set to play Spanish side Sevilla - UEFA Cup winners in 2006 and 2007 - in the tournament final.

Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni could miss the start of the season as he is struggling to recover from a calf injury.
   The injury sidelined Toni during Bayern’s trip to Japan last week, and general manager Uli Hoeness fears the Italian superstar will miss at least the rest of the preseason.
   ‘I cannot imagine Luca being able to play in the (DFB-Pokal) against Erfurt,’ Hoeness told the Bild newspaper. ‘You cannot take muscular injuries lightly. I think the earliest he could possibly be back is for the opening game of the season against Hamburg.’
   Bayern’s first competitive fixture of the 2008-09 season comes next Sunday in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, but they face a mouth-watering friendly against Italian champion Inter Milan on Tuesday, a game Toni will now miss.
   Bayern coach Jurgen Klinsmann also likely will have to do without Willy Sagnol and Tim Borowski against Jose Mourinho’s men.
   However, Hoeness had better news regarding French midfielder Franck Ribery, who has been out since damaging knee ligaments during Euro 2008.
   ‘Things are moving pretty quickly with Franck,’ Hoeness said. ‘He is not a heavyweight after all - more like a flea.’

The Netherlands boosted their Olympic hopes by taking the ING Cup here on Saturday after a 1-1 draw with Ivory Coast, but the African footballers showed they could be a team to fear in Beijing.
   The Dutch—who are one of the favourites in the Olympic tournament—were tipped to take home the prize in Hong Kong after beating Cameroon 2-0 on Wednesday, but Ivory Coast impressed with some electrifying attacks.
   The Netherlands went up 1-0 in the 14th minute thanks to a brilliant free-kick by Ajax midfielder Urby Emanuelson, who was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
   But Ivory Coast captain Gervinho scored the equaliser after stabbing home from close range following a 47th-minute corner. He set up a glorious late chance for Abraham Guie Guie, who shot wide from about eight yards out.
   ‘We scored a magnificent goal through Urby, but we were a little bit lucky,’ admitted Dutch coach Foppe De Haan. ‘We had a lot of problems with the Ivory Coast and were losing the ball too much. We could have lost this game.’
   Ivory Coast coach Gerard Gili believes his team will progress through the group stage at the Olympics after seeing his charges improve following last Sunday’s 2-1 loss to South Korea and Wednesday’s scoreless draw with the USA.
   ‘If we had converted our chances, we could have won tonight,’ said the Frenchman. ‘We’re very happy with this week as we’ve come through two matches played at a high level.’

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s testimonial saw Manchester United beat Espanyol 1-0 on Saturday though the 68,868 crowd saw little in the way of goalmouth action.
   Reserve forward Fraizer Campbell got the goal for the European champions against the mid-table Spanish side at Old Trafford.
   The game did, however, serve to illustrate the increasingly pressing need for manager Sir Alex Ferguson to advance with his efforts to add a big-money forward to his squad this close season.
   With the proposed acquisition of Tottenham’s Dimitar Berbatov seemingly at an impasse, and the start of the Premiership season now less than two weeks away, the position remains the one glaring weakness in terms of United’s strength in depth.
   Against Espanyol, with Wayne Rooney suffering from a virus and French international forward Louis Saha absent, presumably injured, Carlos Tevez played as a lone striker and United lacked any real clinical touch in front of goal.
   Tevez’s performance was decent enough but, also, marred by his reaction to a foul from Daniel Jarque late in the first half.
   The Argentinian forward leaped up and pushed his assailant in the throat before thinking better of pressing home his retaliation. In competitive football, Tevez would have certainly been dismissed.
   The striker issue becomes all the more pressing as Cristiano Ronaldo, who returns to the club on Tuesday after a summer of high controversy over a possible move to Real Madrid, is injured following ankle surgery and expected to be out until the end of September.
   Ronaldo scored 42 goals in all competitions for United last season, exactly the same tally as Rooney, Tevez and Saha combined, and his loss could be a key factor in the early part of the new Premiership campaign, should United fail to sign a productive new forward.
   When Solskjaer, who officially retired one year ago, came on for the final 22 minutes of his testimonial, the situation concerning United’s problems were underlined even more glaringly, given that the Norwegian looked the best forward on the field.
   In the 77th minute, after a selfless assist by his old team mate Ryan Giggs, Solskjaer’s strong shot flew just wide of the left-hand post and, seconds later, Espanyol goalkeeper Alvarez Cristian required two attempts to keep out another shot from the man of the moment.
   Finally, nine minutes from time, a pass from Giggs gave the electrifyingly quick Campbell the edge to get ahead of his markers and slot a clinical finish past Cristian.
   After an impressive Championship campaign on loan at Hull last season, United may be well advised to keep Campbell around rather than sell him to Hull as appears likely this week.
   United should have taken the lead far earlier in proceedings. In the 19th minute a chip from Paul Scholes struck the post and Nani ran in to place the rebound into the side-netting.
   Moments later, Darren Fletcher skied the ball over from a threatening position with Tevez doing the same thing shortly after.
   The best move of the game saw Tevez free Nani down the right and his cross found Scholes whose effort was scrambled off the line by Francisco Rufete just after the half-hour.

Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho have been given rapturous receptions on their arrival in China for the Olympic soccer tournament but a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport is threatening to take some gloss off the contest.
   Argentina forward Messi, who is set to become one of the highest-profile figures ever to have graced the competition, could be forced out of the Games if CAS rules in favour of his club Barcelona, who have appealed against a FIFA decision ordering them to release him.
   FIFA, soccer’s governing body, last week ruled that clubs must release players aged under 23 who are selected for the Games. CAS is expected to give its verdict on or before Wednesday.
   Messi’s absence would be a huge disappointment to the public in Shanghai, where defending champions Argentina play their first two games, and Beijing, where they complete their programme in Group A which also features Serbia, Australia and Ivory Coast.
   Messi’s arrival in Shanghai on Friday attracted the attention of dozens of onlookers and autograph hunters.
   Ronaldinho, who is taking part as one of the three overage players allowed per team, has come to China with the blessing of his new club AC Milan and his arrival in Shenyang, where Brazil face Belgium in their opening game on Aug 7, caused an even bigger stir.
   ‘Ronaldinho was surrounded by a multitude asking for autographs, shouting his name and taking photographs,’ said the Brazilian Football Confederation on its website (www.cbf.com.br).
   ‘There were so many people that the players had trouble reaching their bus. The biggest problem was that the police and security officials temporarily abandoned their jobs and joined in the autograph hunting.’
   Although Ronaldinho’s presence is assured, two members of the Brazilian squad—full back Rafinha and midfielder Diego — are also involved in a club-versus-country row involving their respective clubs Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen.
   The German clubs have also appealed to CAS over the order to release the pair and their cases will be judged together with Barcelona’s.
   However, it is not clear if the two players will return to Germany as they have already defied orders from their clubs in joining up with the Brazil squad.
   The attitude of the two Brazilian players has destroyed the notion that Olympic soccer is not taken seriously. In the last few days, a number of players have spoken of their desire to take part in the tournament.
   Ivory Coast striker Salomon Kalou said he believed the experience of playing in the Olympics would greatly benefit him and other players who will be freed up by the ruling.
   ‘For me, this is a great competition, and to let young players play is a great move from FIFA,’ Kalou said after a tournament in Hong Kong.

Sir Alex Ferguson admitted youngster Fraizer Campbell is set for a Premier League opportunity following his goal in Ole Gunnar Solsjaer’s testimonial on Saturday.
   Campbell, whose form could affect United’s bid for Dimitar Berbatov, scored the only goal as United sealed a 1-0 win against Espanyol.
   Former Norway striker Solskjaer is set to raise in the region of two million pounds for charity after a gate of 68,868 turned out at Old Trafford for the clash against the Spanish outfit.
   But it needed Campbell’s 82nd-minute goal to finish off Espanyol, who finished a lowly 12th in La Liga last season.
   Cristiano Ronaldo’s ankle injury, which is set to keep the Portuguese forward sidelined until October, has weakened United’s attacking options ahead of the new season and the club’s attempts to lure Berbatov appear to have ground to a halt.
   So with United due to launch the defence of their Premier League title against Newcastle on August 17, boss Ferguson admits that 20-year-old Campbell, who helped fire Hull City to promotion to the top flight last season, will play a key role in easing the club’s attacking problems.
   Ferguson said, ‘Fraizer Campbell has taken his goal very well and it won’t do him any harm. He’s an aggressive young player, very quick and determined, and he can do well.
   ‘His future lies here because don’t have any strikers. We only have Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez, so Fraizer comes into that area.
   ‘We are also hoping to apply for a work permit for Manucho, who comes from Angola. That will give us more back-up.’
   United were without a host of first-team players due to injury and illness and with Juventus due at Old Trafford on Wednesday in the build-up to next Sunday’s Community Shield clash with Portsmouth at Wembley, Ferguson admitted that there remains a doubt over the fitness of Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney.
   He said, ‘Carrick and Rooney have been struggling with a virus for a few days and they won’t be fit for the Juventus game on Wednesday. Hopefully they will be ready for the Communtiy Shield game.
   ‘Other than that, Gary Neville had a calf strain, but he’ll be ok for Wednesday.’
   Solskjaer, who retired 12 months ago as a result of persistent knee problems, has recently been appointed United’s reserve-team manager. However, with Espanyol offering him a playing farewell with a 20-minute cameo appearance, the 35-year-old admitted that it was an emotional day at Old Trafford.
   He said, ‘I have had more than a year to get used to not playing, but it doesn’t get any easier and I knew this would be my last game at Old Trafford.
   ‘It has been a great day for me and my family, though, the 20 minutes that I played towards the end of the game are something I will never forget.’

Liverpool’s roll-call of magnificent number sevens includes legends like Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Peter Beardsley - and Robbie Keane is determined to add his name to that list.
   Ever since Keegan arrived at Anfield in the 1970s, Liverpool have enjoyed their most successful periods when the number seven shirt has been filled by a dynamic playmaker capable of raising the team’s play to a higher level.
   When Dalglish, arguably the club’s finest player, became manager in the late 1980s he recognised Beardsley as a kindred spirit and paid a then British record transfer fee to make the forward a fulcrum of his attack.
   Beardsley was a member of the last Reds team to win the English title back in 1990 and his sublime skills, together with those of team-mates John Barnes and John Aldridge, enthralled one teenage Liverpool fanatic.
   Keane, watching at home in Ireland, fell in love with Liverpool’s brand of the beautiful game and never lost the feeling.
   So when Rafa Benitez offered the 28-year-old the chance to move to Anfield, he couldn’t get to Merseyside quickly enough.
   During his official unveiling as a Liverpool player after his 20 million pounds (25 million euro) move last month, Keane’s face was wreathed in the kind of joyfully dazed grin that suggested all his dreams had come true at once.
   Not only had Keane joined his boyhood idols but he would run out in front of the Kop wearing the iconic number seven jersey after the club granted his wish to step into the shoes of Dalglish and company.
   ‘When the interest came in from Liverpool it was the only thing that could have ever taken me away from Tottenham and that’s the reason why I’m here,’ Keane said. ‘I couldn’t have left Tottenham for any other club. I think that if I didn’t come to Liverpool, I’d probably have regretted it for the rest of my life.’
   Keane’s ability to decorate matches with moments of brilliance has made him one the game’s most expensive players throughout a career which has included spells at Inter Milan, Leeds and now Liverpool.
   But Keane has never been able to turn that talent into trophies on a regular basis.
   Now he has the opportunity at one of the game’s blue-chip clubs and Benitez expects his partnership with Fernando Torres to help Liverpool end their 18-year wait for the title.
   Despite Torres’s phenomenal form, Liverpool still drew 13 matches last season as a lack of cutting edge when the Spaniard was out of form or out of the team came back to haunt them.
   Keane believes he can take the pressure off Torres, as well as supplying his prolific team-mate with a regular supply of chances.
   ‘I’m a striker and the manager sees my playing up there,’ he said. ‘We haven’t spoken specifically about what he wants me to do but I have to earn that right.
   ‘It’s kind of like the way it worked with (Dimitar) Berbatov and myself at Tottenham with a big lad and a smaller lad alongside him. Fernando is really good in the air and I try to come off and drop into the hole so we’ll complement each other.
   ‘You look at the players who are already here, world class players, and to be playing alongside them can only improve me.’

Arsene Wenger expects Emmanuel Adebayor to prove to Arsenal’s boo-boys why he is worth more than a plane load of cash.
   Adebayor angered the Gunners faithful with his refusal to rule out a move away from the Premier League club for much of the close-season.
   The Togo striker has finally agreed to stay and is set to sign a one-year contract extension. But it took the offer of an improved deal that will double Adebayor’s wages to around 70,000 pounds-a-week to convince him to reject interest from AC Milan and Barcelona.
   So perhaps it wasn’t surprising that he received a frosty welcome back to the Emirates Stadium before Saturday’s 1-0 friendly defeat against Juventus, when his name was jeered by a sizeable section of the 60,000 crowd.
   When the 24-year-old came on as a second half substitute the reception was mixed again, but he gave a typically powerful display that pepped up a subdued Arsenal.
   Wenger has no doubt about Adebayor’s value. He wouldn’t have considered selling him for less than 35 million pounds and is confident the targetman can get the fans back on his side.
   ‘He is a top player who will want to prove himself in every game. I feel our fans are behind him, I feel that was more disappointed love,’ Wenger said, in allusion to the boos.
   ‘To me, face to face, he always told me he wants to stay at the club, and it finished like that, so I believe what he told me.
   ‘He is not going anywhere - even if you come with a 747 plane full of money.’
   After a close-season scarred by the departures of Alexander Hleb, Mathieu Flamini and Gilberto Silva, Wenger is short of proven experience in midfield.
   The arrivals of Aaron Ramsey and Samir Nasri bode well for the future but the Gunners manager admitted he wants to add one midfielder before the transfer window shuts at the end of August.
   Suggestions that he may move for Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry got short shrift from Wenger, with Udinese’s Goklan Inler another possible target.
   ‘Experience-wise we are a bit short in midfield but we will see. With Diaby not being injured, Denilson being available, we have quality in there,’ Wenger said.
   ‘We are not close to signing anybody and I will focus on the players I have. If we can find someone, then we will do it. If not, I am happy as well.’
   David Trezeguet’s prodded first-half winner on Saturday reflected the disparity in experience between a full-strength Juventus and the collection of promising youngsters fielded by Wenger.
   But when all their key players return Arsenal are capable of beating any team in Europe and Wenger is certain they can mount a sustained challenge for the Premier League title this season.
   ‘Last year we were really really unlucky. We were only four points adrift and lost only three games,’ Wenger said.
   ‘In two of those we were leading 1-0 until 15 minutes before the end.
   We also got some bad injuries. ‘We need to strengthen belief, not only in the way we play but the way we work. We must keep complete confidence in these young players.’

Dutch international midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, who has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, said Sunday a transfer to the Spanish giants would be a dream come true.
   ‘For me to play at Real Madrid is a dream, and if this agreement is eventually sealed I will be a happy man,’ the midfielder told Sports daily As.
   The 25-year-old said that Real’s Dutch star Wesley Sneijder had told him ‘it was a very good club who are waiting for me’.
   On Friday Van der Vaart, under contract with German side Hamburg until 2010, was the subject of a nine million euros (14 million dollars) swoop by Real.
   That was an improved offer after an earlier bid was batted back by Hamburg boss Dietmar Beiersdorfer, who wants to keep the playmaker as the club challenge for a Champions League berth.
   ‘For the moment I’m still a Hamburg player, but I hope things can be settled soon and that the two clubs can find an agreement,’ Van der Vaart said.

Real Madrid’s Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy believes that the constant speculation over the future of Cristiano Ronaldo has had an unsettling effect on the team.
   Whether Ronaldo will follow Van Nistelrooy’s path from Manchester United to the Bernabeu has been an ongoing debate this summer.
   United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is determined to hold on to the Portuguese star, while Real coach Bernd Schuster admitted Saturday that the club have not given up hope of luring Ronaldo.
   ‘It got a bit too far maybe, it is such an issue at the moment in Spain. It gets a bit over the top,’ Van Nistelrooy told BBC Radio Five Live’s Sportsweek programme.
   ‘A couple of our players, they made the comment that there was only talk about him and not about the current team and stars, and everybody’s waiting for the next rumour without anything concrete.’
   Asked whether he expected Ronaldo to stay at Old Trafford for the forthcoming campaign, the Dutchman added: ‘I think so, if you hear the statements from United. It doesn’t really sound like they’ll let him go.’

Ivory Coast international striker Didier Drogba said Sunday he was ready to sign a new contract at Chelsea.
   Drogba has been in contact with new Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari and seems likely to sign a big-money deal that will see him remain at Stamford Bridge until 2012.
   ‘I am confident talks with Chelsea will lead to a positive resolve about my future,’ Drogba told the Sunday Mirror.
   Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon last week revealed his confidence that their big name stars, including Drogba and captain Frank Lampard, would remain at the club.
   Drogba has two years remaining on his current contract but insists a move for more money is not his top priority.
   ‘Chelsea want to speak and I am open to talk,’ he said. ‘Things have not changed but I am a Blues player.
   ‘Money is not the main factor and if Chelsea show they want me it is possible to accept a proposition.’
   AC Milan, Barcelona and Inter Milan are all reported to be interested in signing the 30-year-old, who joined the London club four years ago.

Rio Ferdinand believes that his Manchester United and England team-mate Wayne Rooney will step out of Cristiano Ronaldo’s shadow and be the star of Old Trafford this season.
   The 22-year-old was forced to take a supporting role last season as the Portuguese winger’s 42 goals made him the leading man at Old Trafford.
   But Ferdinand, United’s captain last season in the absence of Gary Neville, believes Rooney’s contribution to the team has been under-rated.
   And if manager Sir Alex Ferguson plays Rooney in his favoured position more often from now on, the centre-half is confident the striker will soon be the main man.
   ‘We’ve got to wait to see what will happen in the transfer market with regard to signing a new striker, but what Wayne did last season was staggering,’ Ferdinand told The People on Sunday.
   ‘He had to take the responsibility of leading the line on his shoulders and he was awesome.’
   He added: ‘He played out of position a lot. He played on the left and sacrificed himself so many times for the team.
   ‘I know the manager wants to see Wayne playing in his more accustomed position, just off the front.
   ‘Maybe that will happen if we sign a striker and then you’ll see how dangerous he can be.’