The Indian government is yet to decide whether to allow the national cricket team to tour Pakistan, amid serious doubts following the attacks in Mumbai, a government spokesman said on Sunday.
   ‘Since the tour is in January there is still some time, we are discussing the issue,’ foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash told Reuters.
   The Board of Control for Cricket in India has sought permission to tour amid security concerns over playing in that country.
   The three-day rampage which killed nearly 200 people in Mumbai have dimmed hopes after the Indian government said it had proof of a Pakistani link, straining political ties between the south Asian neighbours.
   Indian media quoted unnamed cricket officials on Sunday as saying the tour appeared doubtful. Indian board secretary N Srinivasan refused to comment.
   AFP adds: India’s government has refused permission to send a cricket team for a full tour of Pakistan early next year following the deadly Mumbai attacks, Indian television reported on Sunday.
   The tour was cancelled amid a government probe into Pakistani links to the assaults on the country’s financial capital by heavily-armed militants that left nearly 200 people dead.
   The NDTV and CNN-IBN news channels, quoting unnamed government sources, said the matches were also unlikely to be played at neutral venues.
   The Board of Control for Cricket in India declined to comment on the reports, saying its request for a security clearance for the tour was pending with the government.
   India were scheduled to play three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match during the five-week tour from January 13 to February 19.
   It was to be the fifth bilateral series between the two countries since 2004, when cricket ties resumed after a 15-year gap due to political tensions between the warring neighbours.
   The tour was first put in doubt earlier this month when the Indian government denied permission to the national junior hockey team to visit Pakistan.
   Australia cancelled a Test tour of Pakistan in March and the International Cricket Council put off the high-profile Champions Trophy there in September due to security concerns.
   Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ijaz Butt had said on Friday the fate of India’s tour lay in the hands of the respective governments.
   ‘The security situation is out of our control and after what has happened in Mumbai, the decision on the Indian team’s tour of Pakistan is now in two governments’ hands,’ Butt said.
   ‘Relocating the home series to neutral venues was a huge financial loss in the past so it’s detestable but in an effort to give our players some cricket we will have to do that, but as a last resort.’
   Cricket officials in the United Arab Emirates had offered to host the series.
   The BCCI is also waiting for England to confirm next week’s two-Test tour of India after the last two one-day matches were cancelled and the tourists returned home following the Mumbai attacks.
   The BCCI shifted the second Test from Mumbai to Chennai, but retained Vadodara as the venue for a three-day practice match from December 5 and the first Test in Ahmedabad from December 11.

Australia (535) lead New Zealand (270 & 0/0) by 230 runs at stumps, day 3
   The wicketkeeper Brad Haddin found himself as a Test player and allowed himself to relax during an entertaining 169 that swept the match from New Zealand and confirmed his international future. Haddin, playing his ninth game as Adam Gilchrist’s replacement, was the aggressor throughout the day and comfortably outscored the more considered Michael Clarke, who posted 110.
   Australia were dismissed for an imposing 535 late on the third day and the total left them as the only side that can win the fixture and the series, which they lead 1-0. At stumps the visitors, who started with a deficit of 265, were 0 for 35 from nine overs.
   Arriving with Australia at 5 for 247 after two wickets in the third over of the morning, Haddin gave Clarke a start of 48 but reached three figures two overs after the vice-captain registered his third century in consecutive matches at the ground. Haddin continued to score freely after Clarke departed and showed, finally, that he is a long-term prospect.
   As the breakthrough innings wound down Haddin maintained his tempo, striking two sixes off the legspin of Aaron Redmond, and finished with 24 fours during his 222-ball occupation. On a day of firsts - he did not own a Test half-century when he walked out - he brought up his 150 with a sweep from out of the rough and was charging in the manner of his predecessor. When he was ninth-out, having been caught by Peter Fulton on the midwicket boundary, the spectators rose to applaud their new hero.
   Clarke kissed his helmet after hesitating over the single that earned his 10th Test hundred, but his celebration was nothing compared to Haddin’s when he raised three figures. He swung his arms and lifted them high towards the dressing room and the players who understood his battles of the past two months.
   Haddin, a new father, struggled during the tour of India and had plenty of moments of danger in Adelaide, but survived to unleash some fabulous boundaries along with a few streaky ones. The innings was addictive from the moment he arrived with a tentative fend, a skewed drive and a caught-behind appeal that convinced the New Zealanders but not the umpire.
   He gets so nervous before batting that at times he verges on being physically sick, and it was not until the lead-up to lunch that Haddin started to look secure. By then he had already reached fifty. After the break Daniel Flynn missed a simple chance at mid-on - it just brushed his right thumb before hitting his chest on the way to the ground - when Haddin was on 72. Soon Haddin was exploding through the nineties in eight deliveries.
   Clarke’s hundred came from the first ball of Ryder’s over, then Haddin square-drove a boundary, thumped one straight and lifted another over mid-off to leap to 97 before the bowler had finished. When Tim Southee’s offering on Haddin’s pads was clipped in front of square it sealed the milestone and his position in the side. The risk-for-reward approach had been successful.
   More fortune arrived on 102 when he brushed a close-in catch to short leg off Daniel Vettori but was given not out. Vettori had been lifted for four clever leg-side boundaries by Haddin, and had employed a defensive over-the-wicket line for much of the day. He also added to his team’s problems by dropping a caught-and-bowled off Brett Lee ten minutes before tea.
   Lee (19) punished Vettori after the interval before the first slip Ross Taylor took a leaping one-handed catch off Iain O’Brien, who had - bravely or stupidly – peppered Lee with short ones. Vettori started the day with a limp but did not let it affect him and operated for 30 overs straight before lunch till after tea.
   In 59.4 overs in the innings Vettori had only the wickets of Simon Katich and the No. 10 Nathan Hauritz next to 124 runs. Sometimes the game isn’t fair. Redmond captured two victims, the same number as Chris Martin, while O’Brien was the most successful with 3 for 111.
   Clarke was a comforting influence on Haddin, whose batting can flap on the border between aggressive and irresponsible, and they added 181 runs for the sixth wicket. The No. 5 Clarke was much more controlled as he struggled for fluency at times and excelled at others.
   Clarke’s hundred arrived from his 218th delivery, showing his patience, and he was more content clipping the ball around than trying to mirror the attack of his New South Wales team-mate.
   The innings was important for the team and also made up for his near-miss in the first Test in Brisbane when he was bowled by Jesse Ryder for 98. Ryder was involved in Clarke’s dismissal again when he flayed a drive to him in the gully off O’Brien.
   Australia started the day at 3 for 241 and New Zealand experienced some false hope when Martin removed Michael Hussey on 70 to a misguided pull and then benefitted from a caught-behind decision against Andrew Symonds. Haddin and Clarke quickly shut down the brief revival.

England’s cricketers will not be forced to return to India for the two-Test series between the two countries, the managing director for England cricket said Saturday.
   In the aftermath of attacks in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai, Hugh Morris said the England team was committed to returning to India if it was ‘safe and secure’ to do so, and added that the England and Wales Cricket Board was ‘actively’ considering warm-up matches in the Middle East.
   ‘I don’t think we’d force anybody to do anything,’ Morris told reporters at a press conference at London’s Heathrow Airport after the England team returned from India, when asked if cricketers would be forced to return if they did not want to.
   Morris noted that, among the players, there was ‘a good degree of nervousness, there’s no doubt about that, that’s only natural.’
   ‘But what we have to do is provide the absolute up-to-date information that we have to the players,’ he said.
   ‘They would have the necessary information to make an informed decision, but I think that that would be a personal choice if someone felt very strongly about it.’
   He said that the team had returned ‘to assess the safety and security situation in India (and) the remainder of the England cricket tour of India.’
   ‘We have a team of people that we rely on for our safety and security information. They’re pulling that information together over the next 24 to 48 hours and, clearly, we’ll assess that information when we have it.’
   He acknowledged that the team had a ‘very short timescale’ to work with, with the first Test due to be played in the western city of Ahmedabad from December 11-15.
   ‘Clearly, we are committed to going back and playing in a Test series if it is safe to do so,’ he said.
   ‘Would I go back? If it was safe and secure, absolutely.’
   Asked by a reporter whether the ECB was considering holding a warm-up match at a venue in the Middle East, Morris replied: ‘That’s an option we are actively looking at.’
   ‘The information we get in the next 48 hours will be determining the programme leading up to the first Test if the report suggests it will be safe and secure to go back.’
   The Board of Control for Cricket in India shifted the second Test from terror-hit Mumbai to the southern city of Chennai, which is scheduled to be played from December 19-23.
   The final two one-day internationals of the seven-match series, in which England was trailing 5-0, have been cancelled.
   The last remaining gunmen in Mumbai’s Taj hotel were killed by Indian commandoes on Saturday, ending the devastating attack by Islamic militants which has left 195 dead.

England skipper Kevin Pietersen, whose team are expected to decide whether or not to return to India by Monday, has admitted he hasn’t slept since the Mumbai terror attacks.
   Pietersen’s men are due to play India in a two-Test series in December, but those matches are in doubt in the wake of the attacks in India’s financial capital which left 195 people dead.
   The 28-year-old Pietersen said he is still shaking after learning of the attacks and when he discovered English tourists were being targeted it sent a shiver down his spine.
   Writing in Sunday’s News of the World, Pietersen said: ‘I’m still shaking from the terrorist atrocities in Mumbai.
   ‘Every time I see the TV footage of the carnage in the Indian city, I realise how close we were to death.
   ‘I haven’t slept thinking about the three-day rampage and siege.
   ‘We were 800 miles from the attack, but suddenly we felt very vulnerable, especially as we had stayed at the targeted Taj Mahal Hotel just two weeks ago.’
   Pietersen said he feared the England team - and their captain - would be a target.
   ‘It makes my blood run cold,’ he added.
   But the England skipper said if the go-ahead was given by security experts to return for the Test series, he would return.
   The second Test has already been moved from Mumbai to Chennai in a bid to calm fears. The first Test is scheduled to start on December 11 in Ahmedabad.
   The England and Cricket Board’s managing director Hugh Morris said on Saturday that no player would be forced to return to India for the final two Tests - even if security reports show that it is safe to do so.

Virender Sehwag was facing Pakistan’s medium-fast bowler Abdul Razzaq, who was reverse-swinging the ball, and the way the Indian handled him is narrated in an interesting story in Australia’s legendary spinner Shane Warne’s just released book.
   ‘Sehwag came up to (his batting mate Jeremy) Snape and said: ‘We must lose this ball. I have a plan’. Next over he whacked the ball clean out of the ground, forcing umpires to pick another from the box that would obviously not reverse straight away. To which Sehwag said: ‘We are alright for one hour.’ Smart I say.’
   Sehwag and Snape were batting for English county Leicestershire against Middlesex when Razzaq started reverse swinging the ball in the way that the Pakistani bowlers do, Warne wrote in his book ‘Shane Warne’s Century’ and attributed the ‘great story’ to Snape, who told it to him during their Indian Premier League days.
   The Australian believes Sehwag’s style was unmatched in the world and worked for him more than any other batsman with the same approach.
   ‘Sehwag is one of my favourite batsmen in world cricket and one of my favourite personalities. This is a guy I would pay to watch. Alright, he could get caught at third man to a big slash or a top edge in the first or second over, but he could just as easily bat for an hour in a way unmatched by anybody else in the world.
   ‘You can take pot luck with Sehwag, although the fact that he averages more than 50 in Test cricket shows that his style pays off for him more often than it does for most other batsmen with the same approach,’ Warne wrote about the only triple-centurion India has produced.
   Warne, who led young underdogs Rajasthan Royals to the title win in the inaugural IPL season, feels it was worth even having an out-of-form Sehwag in the team.
   ‘If I was his captain, I would look to pump him up at every opportunity, reminding him that he is a match winner... It is worth paying the price for the little mistakes for the times when he absolutely destroys the opposition and wins you a game,’ he said.
   Despite some similarities, Warne felt it was unfair to compare Sehwag with Sachin Tendulkar, whom the Delhi batsman idolises.
   ‘Comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar are unfair., Take him (Tendulkar) for what he is. Take Sehwag for what he is as well,’ he said and added ‘Their opening partnership in one-day cricket was usually worth the admission fee alone.’
   A self pro-claimed Tendulkar fan, Warne has now documented his feelings for the Indian, saying ‘Cricket has been fortunate to have a wonderful player and a first-rate ambassador, and to me he plays the game in right spirit.’
   Warne also did not feel that being Tendulkar, it was imperative for the batting maestro to score in every innings.
   ‘He doesn’t score runs every innings, of course, but he hasn’t suffered long troughs of poor form at any time in his career... the papers would praise him but also blame him sometimes if his innings did not win matches, as though he was responsible for the rest of the side — what a joke that is.
   The spin wizard also felt that Tendulkar should not be pestered to leave the game earlier than he wanted to, owing to factors like form and age.
   ‘All good things come to an end, and we should make sure we really appreciate Tendulkar whilst he is around and playing well. We will all miss him when he is not around anymore!’
   Warne also praised ‘hot-headed’ off-spinner Harbhajan Singh as an ‘exceptional talent’ but felt the Indian should have got stringent punishment than he got for abusing Andrew Symonds during the Sydney Test.
   ‘He may not have a fan club in Australia after recent incidents with Andrew Symonds, but he is still the kind of exciting player spectators want to watch. I thought he handled the situation in Australia last year pretty badly and should have been punished more than he was,’ he said.

Table toppers Dhaka Abahnai face a stern challenge against Brothers Union in a crucial tie of the Citycell B League at 4:30pm at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today.
   Abahani enjoying the pole position with 19 points from eight matches will further consolidate their position if they win the match. On the other hand, Brothers Union who have ten points from seven matches will have to show their character if they want to stay in the title race.
   Amalesh Sen, the Abahani coach rendered confidence about continuing the winning spree. ‘We have to go all out to ensure a victory, my team is confident and prepared to take the challenge and we are not in a mood of losing any point,’ said Amalesh.
   Midfielder Pranotosh will miss the match as he has sustained a forehead injury in the match against Mohammedan.
   Brothers Union manager, Amer Khan hoped his team would make the most of the scoring chances. ‘In the last two big matches we have created numerous chances but failed to utilise anything, if my forward line scores the half of the chances they create, we will win’ said Amer.

Shahidur Rahman Chowdhury Shantu, one of the best custodians the country has produced, was appointed as the Technical Director of Bangladesh Football Federation on Sunday.
   In an executive committee meeting held at the BFF House, Shantu, who now lives in the USA, was picked for the post and he will keep an eye on the development of the game in the country. Shantu will be chalking out a development plan for the overall improvement.
   Shantu earlier coached an Under-17 team under BFF in 2005.

International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat has pleaded with England’s stars to return to India for next month’s two-Test series.
   England flew back to London on Saturday after the final two one-day internationals against India were postponed in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai this week that killed 174 people.
   But Kevin Pietersen’s team are due to return for the first Test starting on December 11 in Ahmedabad.
   That match could be moved to Kolkata with the second Test already switched from Mumbai to Chennai, but Pietersen’s players won’t decide whether to return until they are given security advice from the England and Wales Cricket Board.
   After expressing his horror at the events, Lorgat said: ‘If safety and security allow then I would urge the England Test tour of India to go ahead and if it does so then representatives of the ICC will be there to show solidarity with the competing teams.
   ‘And if those Tests are played I would also urge supporters of the game to attend them as that will be the best way to send a message to those who seek to disrupt our way of life, that we will not be prevented from doing what we want or what we enjoy.
   ‘I have written to the Board of Control for Cricket in India pledging whatever support the ICC can offer to help ensure that, if appropriate, cricket goes ahead.
   ‘I have also written to the England and Wales Cricket Board with a similar offer of support and solidarity.’
   Lorgat also revealed issues of safety and security will be addressed at next week’s ICC chief executives’ committee meeting in Cape Town.
   The ECB and the BCCI have discussed a number of ways forward but a neutral venue such as Abu Dhabi looks like one which will not be pursued.
   The favoured option currently is thought to be for the team to head straight for the city in which they will play the first Test - be it Ahmedabad or Kolkata - and play a two-day warm-up game at an alternative ground to the Test.

Dhaka Club won the titles of the bridge, squash and swimming events of the UCB Dhaka Sports Carnival on the concluding day on Sunday.
   In the bridge final, Dhaka Club beat Officers’ Club. In the squash final, Dhaka Club overpowered Cadet College Club and they bagged highest number of first positions in swimming.
   Kurmitola Golf Club won the tennis event beating Gulshan Club.
   Chief of the Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed, also the chairman of National Sports Council, distributed the prizes as the chief guest in the gala prize distribution ceremony at the Dhaka Club premises on Sunday night.

Michael Clarke is the youngest member of Australia’s batting line-up but maturity is not an issue for the man most likely to be the team’s next captain. Clarke’s 110 in Adelaide was his fourth Test century this year and his calm and measured manner was a contrast to the aggressive approach taken by Brad Haddin in his superb 169.
   Being dropped from the Test team in 2005-06 was a wake-up call that still resonates with Clarke, who has scored a century in every series since regaining his position full-time in the 2006-07 Ashes. Clarke said his patience had increased considerably in the past couple of years.
   ‘Today’s a great example,’ Clarke said. ‘Hadds walked out to bat and every ball he hit, struck the middle of the bat. My job was easy: it was to get a single and get up the other end and let him go for his life. Three years ago I would have been trying to compete with him. I would have thought ‘he hit a four, I’ve got to hit a four’. That just comes with age.’ Clarke was on 48 when Haddin came to the crease but the wicketkeeper was so destructive that by the time the pair had put on a 100-run partnership, Haddin’s contribution was 70. Haddin finished the day with the highest Test score by an Australian in two years and Clarke said it was terrific to see one of the newer permanent members of the team thrive.
   ‘I’ve seen Hadds bat like that a lot for New South Wales in four-day cricket and one-day cricket and it was great to see him do that today,’ Clarke said. ‘And it takes courage, having a few failures, to walk out after losing two wickets early and back yourself from the first ball and he deserves the rewards.’
   It was the first time Haddin had passed 50 in his nine-Test career. He said by the end of the recent tour of India he was starting to doubt and put too much pressure on himself but he felt it was important to keep playing his natural game. Haddin said the overwhelming feeling when he clipped Tim Southee through midwicket for four to bring up the milestone was a relief.
   ‘It’s a pretty emotional time,’ Haddin said. ‘You’ve played first-class cricket now for ten years and I know it’s a bit of a cliché but you dream of those days of scoring a hundred for Australia. I think we’ve all done it in some form in the backyard or whether it be on the beach, so it was a pretty emotional time.’
   It was also a very useful period for Australia, who posted a first-innings total of 535 and by the close of the third day had a lead of 230. New Zealand ended the day with ten wickets in hand and Clarke said while Australia were hopeful of winning the Test and completing a 2-0 series victory on the fourth day, the job would not be simple.
   ‘It’s going to be tough to bowl New Zealand out,’ Clarke said. ‘I think the wicket’s going to be very flat. There’s not too much spin, so the next two days are going to be hard for us in the field and our bowlers are going to have to work really hard.’

Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds missed a compulsory recovery session during his rehabilitation after being thrown out of the team for the ‘gone-fishing’ misdemeanour.
   According to a report in ‘Herald Sun’, the troubled player missed the ‘compulsory recovery session with Queensland in his third week back from cricketing exile’.
   The indiscretion was brought to the notice of Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland who shrugged it off as ‘not my business’. Symonds was apparently sleeping at the time he was supposed to attend the session on October 13.
   Queensland chief executive Graham Dixon and coach Trevor Barsby warned Symonds after the no-show but his transgression was not taken all that seriously by CA, which was ‘interested only in a professional appraisal as to whether Symonds was mentally fit to be available for selection.’
   ‘James Sutherland’s opinion was that it was not his business and the only thing he was interested in was the counsellor’s eventual advice as to whether Andrew could be considered for selection again,’ CA spokesman Peter Young said.
   ‘The only thing that was going to influence our decision after Darwin was the professional advice – and the advice we got a week or two ago was that yes, his (Symonds) head is in right space.
   ‘I’m not aware of what is and isn’t being said (about CA’s handling of the Symonds affair). What matters is we have a duty of care to Andrew,’ he added.

Hashan Tillakaratne, the former captain, has said that Sri Lankan cricket is currently going through ‘the dark ages’ and that an elected body is the way forward.
   ‘Under Arjuna Ranatunga the interim committee is divided,’ Tillakaratne said. ‘The most popular sport in this country is cricket. Arjuna is not allowed to do the work he wants to do by other interim committee members. Normally when an interim committee is appointed the previous members are dissolved and a new committee is appointed. The decisions taken by Arjuna are not approved by the Sports Minister [and] as a result of this the development of cricket is not taking place. Because of their differences all cricket development has come to a standstill. After so many years I see Sri Lanka cricket at present going through the dark ages.’
   Tillakaratne, 41, felt cricket in Sri Lanka was not progressing because interim committees were allowed to run for longer periods than elected bodies. ‘Since 1999 it has become a habit that whenever there is a TV deal around the corner the elected body is dissolved and an interim committee is appointed. Even in the past and even today this has been the practice,’ he said. ‘Don’t be surprised if elections are held the moment a new TV deal is struck by the present interim committee.
   ‘If someone comes up with an action plan for SLC he is not allowed to implement it because someone else comes and puts a spoke in the wheel. Elected bodies run for only six months but interim bodies carry on for more than three years.’
   Tillakaratne also said politics played a role in stemming the chances of players from villages and smaller localities. Constant political interference, he believed, led to a breakdown in development.

England will return to India to play their two-match Test series as per schedule, but without several senior players including talismanic all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, according to a media report here.
   Following the terror attack on Mumbai, Flintoff and fast bowler Steve Harmison and perhaps another bowler in the squad of 15, are expected to pull out in the next two days, citing their children and wives as their prime consideration, a report in ‘Sunday Telegraph’ claimed.
   ‘Harmison has pulled out of tours before, but Flintoff’s absence would deprive England of their best bowler in Indian conditions,’ the report said.
   ‘A lot hinges on the attitude of captain Pietersen, but assuming he is persuaded by ECB of the enormous compensation which would be demanded by the Indian board (running into millions of dollars) and falls into line, the rest of the England party will follow his lead,’ it said.
   England and Wales Cricket Board will make available by Monday a security risk assessment report on returning to India but the newspaper claimed that the report was just a formality and the ECB has already decided on going ahead with the Test series with first match starting in Ahmedabad on December 11.

Spanish league leaders Barcelona set a new club record of 10 consecutive away wins in all competitions when they beat Sevilla 3-0 in La Liga on Saturday night, the club announced on Sunday.
   The 10 successive victories - six in the league, three in the Champions League and one in the King’s Cup - surpass an eight-game winning streak recorded in the 1927/28 season.

With the last two matches of the India-England ODI series cancelled following the Mumbai terror attacks, Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is now busy honing his shooting skills at home.
   Flush with India’s 5-0 drubbing of England in the limited overs series, the relaxed Dhoni took turns with relatives and friends to hit the target with his air gun.
   ‘Usually we see Dhoni relaxing with target shooting or playing with his dogs whenever the cricketer is at home,’ said a neighbour on whose terrace cameramen were taking shots of the Ranchi boy’s latest passion.
   Sporting a dark T shirt and shorts, Dhoni wound up his exercise as soon as he spotted the cameras on the roof tops of his neighbours.
   The Ranchi administration had recently asked Dhoni to furnish a character certificate after he sought license of a prohibited .9mm pistol. They later relaxed norms and referred the matter to the state home ministry.
   The India skipper, who reached home on Friday, called on Jharkhand’s cricketers in their hotel on Saturday evening to cheer them up after they got a mauling from Himachal Pradesh batsmen, who had put on 387 for one on the first day of the Ranji Trophy encounter.

Major (retd) Kamrul Islam, the general secretary of Bangladesh Fencing Association, was selected as the Director of South Asia of Fencing Confederation of Asia.
   For his precious contributions in fencing in this region, Kamrul was selected at a meeting of International Fencing Association atr Yangu, South Korea recently.

Rafael Benitez has told Steven Gerrard that the best years of his career still lie ahead of him.
   The England midfielder will celebrate the tenth anniversary of his Premier League debut today as Liverpool look to keep pace with Chelsea at the top of the table.
   While Gerrard will pick up some deserved plaudits for his achievement, manager Benitez insists this is merely a milestone for him en route to him becoming an even more influential player at Anfield.
   The 28-year-old, who will once again captain Liverpool against West Ham, took his first steps in the Premier League as an 89th-minute replacement for Vegard Heggem during the 2-0 Anfield victory over Blackburn on Nov 29, 1998.
   Since then, Gerrard has become one of the most celebrated players in Liverpool history, helping the club lift every major honour with the exception of the domestic league title.
   And with Gerrard still 18 months from his 30th birthday, Benitez believes that he still has unfulfilled potential to realise for club and country.
   Benitez said: ‘Stevie is still young and 28 is the best age for a player. He will not lose his power, he will not lose his quality, so in terms of his physical condition and ability, he will not lose these things.
   ‘He can only improve because he will read the game better as he gets older. I don’t know how long he will be as strong as he is now, but if he can stay like this for 3-4 years, with the same energy and power, he will just get better and better.
   ‘He is already one of the big names having been at a big club for ten years, scoring more than 100 goals. For a midfielder, his record is amazing, but he can be better because he can score more goals and be more effective.’
   While Gerrard continues to stride forward, the Spanish forward Fernando Torres will once again be missing on Monday after suffering his third hamstring injury of the season in last week’s Champions League win over Marseille.
   For West Ham, there is simply relief that the memories of a morale-sapping sequence of results are beginning to recede.
   The east Londoners had endured a seven-game winless streak before squeezing past Sunderland by a single goal last weekend, a victory which eased some of the mounting pressure on rookie manager Gianfranco Zola.
   Upton Park is still not an entirely settled place – few Premier League sides have been hit harder by the worldwide credit crunch, with the club’s Icelandic owners having lost an estimated 300 million euros – but at least confidence on the field is beginning to bloom once again.
   ‘It was a fantastic relief to get that winning feeling back at Sunderland,’ Lucas Neill, the Hammers’ Australian captain said, ‘and it is important that we take that feeling into a very tough game at Liverpool.
   ‘Anfield is always a tough place to go and we will be coming up against a team full of fantastic players, so it is going to be interesting.
   ‘But we will give ourselves a chance if we can keep a clean sheet for a long period of the game, because you will always get one or two chances at Anfield. It will be up to us to be ruthless enough to take them.’

Martin O’Neill voiced his frustration after Aston Villa blew a golden opportunity to consolidate their place in the top four by failing to overcome a battling Fulham side.
   But the Villa boss insisted his side had not ‘choked’ against one of the Premier League’s minnows after taking four points from their previous matches, against Arsenal and Manchester United.
   With none of the teams above them in action, Villa had the chance to leapfrog Manchester United into third place in the table, for 24 hours at least.
   But a goalless draw with Roy Hodgson’s well-organised side means that they could lose their place in the top four if Arsenal beat leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
   O’Neill insisted: ‘It is disappointing but I do not accept that we choked. Fulham were tough to break down. Every game is hard and we are not brilliant enough at the moment to steamroll teams but we are doing fine.’
   Villa’s goalkeeper Brad Friedel set a new Premier League record by making his 167th consecutive league appearance, overtaking the previous mark set by England number one David James.
   But Friedel’s team-mates failed to ensure the landmark day ended on a high with Ashley Young, who shot wide from close range, and Stiliyan Petrov, who headed an equally good chance over the bar, squandering good chances before Gareth Barry had a late effort brilliantly saved by Fulham’s Australian goalkeeper, Mark Schwarzer.
   Elsewhere, it was a bleak day for Sunderland, who dropped into the relegation zone after a 4-1 thumping at home to Bolton, while the north-east derby between Middlesbrough and Newcastle finished in a goalless stalemate.
   Newcastle’s Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins came closest to breaking the deadlock in what was a sterile encounter, his first-half shot coming back off the crossbar.
   The point was enough, however, for Newcastle to get out of the bottom three by leapfrogging local rivals Sunderland, who were booed off the pitch by their own supporters after a supine display against Bolton at the Stadium of Light.
   The afternoon started positively enough for the Black Cats with Djibril Cisse latching on to a fine pass from fellow Frenchman Steed Malbranque to give them a 12th-minute lead.
   But Bolton were quickly back on level terms thanks to Matt Taylor’s looping header and three minutes later Gary Cahill gave the visitors the lead.
   Johan Elmander contrived to miss the target after going round Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon but made amends by striking either side of half-time to wrap up a win that lifted Gary Megson’s men into the top half of the table.
   ‘It is very hard to take,’ admitted Sunderland boss Roy Keane, whose future had been the subject of much speculation even before this latest reverse.
   ‘After scoring we just stopped playing and individual mistakes are costing us badly.’
   Marlon King’s fine strike on the turn in first-half stoppage time gave Hull the lead at Stoke.
   But the home side rallied to claim a well-deserved point through Ricardo Fuller, who was pulled down in the box and got up to convert the resulting penalty 18 minutes from time.
   Senegal striker Henri Camara followed up his winner against Everton last week with another goal for Wigan as Steve Bruce’s side came from behind to overcome bottom side West Brom 2-1 at the JJB Stadium.
   Ishmael Miller had given the Baggies the lead just after half-time after both Camara and Emile Heskey missed first-half chances for the home side.
   But Camara made amends with an equaliser on the hour and Emmerson Boyce headed in an 87th-minute winner from an in-swinging corner.
   Boyce, however, had to share the post-match plaudits with goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, who was backed for an England recall by Bruce. ‘We have to thank our goalkeeper – he was fantastic – and in my eyes is one of the best goalkeepers in the country if not the best,’ said the manager.

AC Milan forward Ronaldinho is happy with his progress since making the switch to the Rossoneri from Barcelona in the summer.
   The 28-year-old completed his move to Serie A following a torrid final campaign in Spain where he was held largely culpable for the Catalan club’s two-season trophy drought since helping it win a league and Champions League double in 2006.
   Injury woes and a lack of form saw the 2005 Ballon d’Or winner lose his starting spot at Barca and confined him to only 11 appearances last season, while he was constantly being accused of being lazy and overweight in the Spanish press.
   Despite all this Ronaldinho insists he enjoyed his time in Spain and is now happy to have a new challenge.
   ‘I am very happy to be able to play here in Italy,’ he told the www.acmilan.it. ‘In the past I had the chance to play in Spain in a team full of great champions, but now at Milan I’m having a lot of fun because I’m at a club with a lot of good players.
   ‘For me, it’s a joy to be able to help my teammates by giving my contribution. I am going through a good time.’
   Ronaldinho paused before continuing.
   ‘Coming here I had hoped things would go well, I am a positive person. But life is like this. It’s impossible to always be doing well,’ he said. ‘I am happy to have started this season in the best possible way after a bad year in Barcelona. It was the best thing I could hope for. I see things going better every day.
   ‘Here at Milan, I feel an important player, just like all my team-mates.’

Joe Cole has succinctly expressed what most of the nation feel about Arsenal – their football may be sublime but it lacks a certain something, namely, silverware.
   So sustained has Arsenal’s trophy drought been that even Cole, Chelsea’s most skilful, entertaining and creative player, is actually thankful that he plays for the Roundheads of Stamford Bridge rather than the Cavaliers of the Emirates Stadium.
   It may at times have been frustrating for a gifted player to be constrained by the overwhelming need to win games at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho, but at least he has two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two Carling Cups to look back on in the past four years.
   The likes of Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, stalwarts of the Arsenal side in the same period, have just FA Cup winners’ medals won in 2005 to their names and Cole, without gloating, knows in which camp he would rather be.
   The England midfielder said: ‘In fairness to Arsenal, they are playing nice football but look at the past four years and who’s won the trophies?
   ‘They are fantastic to watch but I wouldn’t want to be playing for a team that didn’t win anything. Winning trophies is what counts.
   ‘You are not going to be sitting on the beach in the summer at the end of the season speaking about that Cruyff turn you did back in December, or that nutmeg you did in January, are you?
   ‘What’s the point in that? You want to be thinking about winning trophies. That’s what it’s all about. We want to put some silverware on the table this year. And that’s what we intend to do.’
   It is a common view in the Chelsea dressing room.
   Jose Bosingwa reacts in precisely the same way when confronted with the proposition that Arsenal play the prettiest football around.
   ‘But they are not the most effective, are they?,’ said the Portugal full-back. ‘The most beautiful football doesn’t always win games. Results are what count, not the style of football you play. All the better if you can play nice-looking football and win with it.’
   And even Van Persie, a man who regrets that Arsenal have not won enough in his five years at the club, acknowledges Cole’s stance.
   ‘I can understand his point of view,’ said the Holland forward. ‘It’s really important to win things. Every day you are working, working, working and that’s what you’re doing it for.
   ‘Of course, we have lots of respect from people. But I want respect around the world, so that people say: ‘They have this fantastic football that I’m really envious of and they have the trophy in their hands at the end’.
   ‘I don’t think it’s enough just to win trophies with ugly football – and I’m not saying Chelsea are playing ugly football.
   ‘But when a team are really playing a negative way and winning something, I don’t really like that. But I don’t like it as well that we’re playing so fantastic and not winning trophies.’
   Arsene Wenger, who appears obstinately wedded to the vision of winning the Premier League in the most stylish way possible in the face of all the contradictory evidence, is convinced that nothing has changed at his club since their last title win, the extraordinary campaign of 2003-04, when Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ went unbeaten for the entire season.
   ‘For me, it is the wrong question,’ said the Arsenal manager. ‘You never choose between playing good football and winning trophies. If you play good football, the consequences are that you win trophies.
   ‘People don’t realise that we were the only team in the modern game who won the championship without losing a game. We were unbeaten for 49 games and the 50th, that we lost, was not a deserved loss. I still think that is a game we won.
   ‘We didn’t play differently, you know. It was with the same philosophy. It’s just that when you don’t win, people question the way you play, the style. There is a correlation between good football and winning football. We’re playing passing football because we want to win games.’
   The credit crunch is likely to hit the game hard in the next 12 months but Wenger believes his club are in a powerful position.
   ‘No matter what happens, the club cannot die and we are in a strong financial situation,’ he added. ‘That is something nobody cares about at the moment because to win, people are ready to make the club explode. They say, “OK, let’s spend £50m, £60m”.
   ‘But if you are not in a financially stable position, you are in a weak position. We have important strengths; a very young team, a stadium that is built, a training ground – and we’re in a strong financial situation.’

Arsene Wenger insists his policy of snapping up young talent will benefit Arsenal in the long run.
   The Frenchman has seen his transfer dealings questioned this season, with many believing the Gunners lack the experience necessary to be considered title challengers.
   The North London outfit are, undoubtedly, one of the most exciting sides in England, but an expectant fan base is beginning to lose patience with a developing side.
   Wenger, though, is adamant that the club are heading in the right direction and has made it clear that he will not risk the financial security which exists at Emirates Stadium by bringing in a host of big-money signings.
   ‘I think, in the end, what I’ve done is right,’ he said.
   ‘I believe that the job of a real manager is to try to be successful with the financial respect of a balanced budget.
   ‘I am proud of the fact that we made £30 million profit
   last season and I will try to make sure we do the same this year.
   ‘People don’t seem to understand that spending £50-£60 million doesn’t make you stable. In fact, it puts you in a financially weak position. Some people say that to win they are prepared to make their club explode.
   ‘Here at Arsenal we have two important strengths.
   ‘We have a very young team, which is also very promising and we have a 21st-century stadium and training facilities. We are also in a strong financial position at the moment.’

Surprise package Hoffenheim stayed top of the German Bundesliga after a 3-0 home win Saturday over Arminia Bielefeld but Bayern Munich stayed in hot pursuit with a 2-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen.
   League top-scorer Vedad Ibisevic, with the Bosnian’s 17th of the season, and Carlos Eduardo scored inside the opening 11 minutes before Francisco Copado netted a last-minute spot-kick to make it 11 league wins and 34 points from 15 games.
   Bayern are second, three points adrift, after Luca Toni, with a header, and Miroslav Klose scored after the break to move them above a Bayer Leverkusen side who had stood third at start of play.
   Third are Hertha Berlin, a point behind Bayern. The Berliners beat Cologne 2-1 on Friday.
   Village side Hoffenheim, who have come from nowhere after consecutive promotions to sit atop their perch backed by multi-millionaire entrepreneur Dietmar Hopp, were paid a major compliment by Bielefeld coach Michael Frontzeck.
   ‘They totally deserved the win. For me, Hoffenheim are the best team in Germany right now.’
   Hoffenheim counterpart Ralf Rangnick said his side were still finding their way at the top level but managing to stay consistent.
   ‘That was a tough game but we have found a good level of consistency. If I had to criticise, then we might have scored a few more today,’ he told reporters.
   For now Bayern must wait to see if their unexpected rivals slip up but the Bavarians’ coach Jurgen Klinsmann said their earlier form problems are now behind them.
   ‘I’m very happy with the win. We made a sticky start to the Bundesliga season – but now we’re really on our way,’ said the former German national coach.
   At the wrong end of the table, Energie Cottbus moved out of the drop zone after they notched only their third win of the campaign by claiming a 3-1 success at former giants Borussia Moenchengladbach.
   Chelsea misfit Claudio Pizarro managed the individual exploit of the day with a hat-trick as his Werder Bremen thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 on the River Weser.
   Pizarro, on loan from Stamford Bridge, had bagged two by the 20th minute and then completed his treble in the 63rd minute, sandwiching a Diego penalty and clincher from Aaron Hunt.
   The win moved Werder up to seventh, ahead of Schalke but still a point behind Borussia Dortmund, who could close to within a point of Leverkusen if they defeat strugglers Wolfsburg on Sunday at home.
   Also Sunday, Schalke travel to Stuttgart hoping to cement European ambitions while Hamburg will do likewise at Bochum.
   A win for Martin Jol’s northerners would take them into the top four.
   Hoffenheim continued their fairytale season after taking their goals tally to a remarkable 40 after Ibisevic fired home acrobatically for the opener on five minutes from a cross by Turk Selim Teber and Carlos Eduardo then ended a solo run with a clinical finish.
   Copado then clinched matters with his penalty after Michael Lamey fouled Demba Ba.
   Jurgen Klinsmann’s Bayern, meanwhile, put one over Bayer Leverkusen, coached by former Bayern man Bruno Labbadia, after Italian World Cup winner Toni netted his seventh in the league this season 12 minutes after the restart and then Klose celebrated his 250th career league appearance after good work by Frenchman Franck Ribery.
   Bayern survived without German international forward Lukas Podolski, whom Cologne would like to re-sign.
   Cologne general manager Michael Meier has indicated that Cologne ‘have a clear plan’ as to how that might come about amid media talk of a possible transfer fee of 15 million euros for the unsettled striker who missed Saturday’s game with a back complaint while Dutch midfielder Mark Van Bommel was also out through illness.

Interest in the 2009 Confederations Cup is huge in the host country South Africa and abroad, local news reports said on Sunday. The reports said that 31 million hits had been recorded at the relevant internet sites and that all 200,000 application forms for locals have been snapped up.
   The draw for the eight-team Confederations Cup June 14-28, 2009, was conducted on November 22. The 850,000 tickets for the 16 matches in four South African stadiums went on sale the next day.
   South Africans can apply via the forms and the internet. Fans from abroad are required to apply via the official website of the ruling football body FIFA.
   The cheapest ticket category - 5 euros (6.3 dollars) for group games and 21 euros (26.7 dollars) for the final - is reserved for South Africans. The other tickets go on sale for 21-140 euros, in three categories.

A brace from Lionel Messi helped Barcelona clinch a 3-0 victory over Sevilla on Saturday and open a six-point lead at the top of the Spanish league as Real Madrid crashed 3-1 at city rivals Getafe.
   Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola had told his players beforehand to show commitment and it was needed against a Sevilla side who battled for every ball.
   The game was played at a frantic pace with few clear chances but it was Barcelona who made the most of theirs with Messi once again the outstanding player.
   In the opening minutes Luis Fabiano shot over from inside the box for Sevilla but after 20 minutes it was Samuel Eto’o who opened the scoring latching onto a loose ball in the area and firing home.
   Fabiano then went close again and Frederic Kanoute felt unlucky not to be awarded a penalty after tumbling in the box following a challenge from Gerard Pique, but the clearest chance came later for Kanoute who could only hit the crossbar after beating the offside trap.
   In the second half, both sides were reduced to shots from distance before Messi took centre stage.
   The Argentine ran onto a ball from midfield and volleyed into the corner from 25 yards to extend Barca’s lead after 78 minutes and then he completed his brace in injury time, rounding the keeper before slotting home.
   Sevilla’s night was made worse by the controversial dismissal of Fabiano for elbowing Sergio Busquets.
   ‘I’m happy as this was a step forward for us and these are important points against a very strong rival,’ said Guardiola.
   ‘In the first half we were sloppy and took a lot of risks but after the break we were a lot better and more organised.’
   Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez said: ‘In the second half they showed what they are capable of doing.
   ‘In the first half Sevilla played well and it was unfair that Barcelona went into the interval with a lead but afterwards they were lethal.
   ‘The quality of Daniel (Alves), Messi and Xavi (Hernandez) caused us a lot of damage and to say otherwise would be lying.’
   Earlier, a convincing 3-1 victory by Getafe piled the pressure on Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster whose side have now lost two out their last three league games.
   ‘It was not a painful defeat because from the start of the game it was clear that it would have been very difficult to win,’ said Schuster.
   ‘A lot of things happened in the match and at no time did we have the feeling that we could win. Getafe were superior and they produced a spectacular game.’
   Schuster was forced into fielding a makeshift team with seven players unavailable and they got off to the worst possible start conceding a goal after just three minutes with Juan Angel Albin converting a Jaime Gavilan cross.
   Getafe, brimming with confidence following their draw against Barcelona a week ago, continued to take the game to Real whose outlook further deteriorated with Wesley Sneijder and Miguel Torres both limping off before half-time.
   Fernando Gago did graze the crossbar but Real were unable to take a hold of the game, and only a few minutes after the interval Albin knocked in his second, slipping the ball past Iker Casillas.
   Real were given hope when Javier Saviola finished well inside the area, after Juan Guti had won back possession, but rather than building on the goal, Madrid soon lost impetus and it was Getafe who looked more likely to score again.
   With nine minutes to go Ikechukwu Uche secured the win for Getafe with a clinical finish after the hard work had been done by his strike partner Albin.

Robinho accepts that Manchester City might not yet be ready to knock Manchester United off their pedestal at the top of English football.
   But the brilliant Brazilian insists it will happen one day and he is determined to stick around until it does.
   Robinho hit back at critics including Pele who have questioned the wisdom of his decision to join City rather than Chelsea or another club already established in the Champions League.
   ‘Of course, it’s not nice to hear someone like Pele being critical. But I can take it,’ City’s 32.5-million-pound acquisition told reporters.
   ‘When you leave Real Madrid - a famous club worldwide - it’s normal to get criticism. I have played for the national team many times so I am used to good things, and bad things, being said about me.’
   Robinho also dismissed suggestions that a reported 160,000-pounds-a-week salary—funded by City’s new Abu Dhabi-based owners—had been the key factor in his choice of destination.
   ‘What people have to realise is that I want to be here for many, many years to come,’ he said. ‘Some people seem to think I’m here only for the money but that’s not true at all.
   ‘If I only wanted money, I would have gone somewhere else. I had offers from Saudi Arabia and Japan and I could have earned much more over there.’
   Having been deemed surplus to requirements at Real—who tried to use him as a makeweight in a deal to take Cristiano Ronaldo to Madrid—Robinho arrived in Manchester with a point to make. He has hit eight goals in 11 league appearances.
   City’s acquisition of Robinho represented an embarrassing failure for Chelsea, who made a critical mistake of publishing a mocked-up picture of the player in their colours before a deal had been finalised.
   ‘Everything would probably have been OK but they put that picture of me on the website and I know Madrid were very upset about that,’ Robinho revealed, adding that Real had preferred to sell him to a club not in the Champions League.
   With former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari installed at Stamford Bridge, there have been suggestions that Robinho is simply using City as a stepping stone to west London.
   But he insists he is happy in England’s rainy northwest.
   ‘The only thing on my mind is to stay in Manchester for many years,’ he said. ‘Next year we will try our best to reach the Champions League. It’s not in my mind to leave the club at all.
   ‘When I go on the pitch I carry the club’s shirt. My aim is to give a lot of happiness to the supporters and the directors and carry on for many years. I want to repay everyone for making me so welcome.’
   That last remark reflects lingering bitterness over how he was treated at Real.
   ‘Madrid is a beautiful city and my family loved living there but things were not as good for me as they are here,’ he said. ‘The directors didn’t behave properly and I didn’t feel as valued as I do here.
   ‘Everyone knows they have a lot of excellent players, but they treated me like I was average.
   ‘I know my worth as a footballer. I don’t feel I should be talked about as currency for someone else (Ronaldo). I couldn’t accept it because it made me feel under-valued.’

Veteran forward Alessandro Del Piero bagged his 250th Juventus goal as the Turin giants climbed up to second in the Serie A table with a 4-0 victory over Reggina in snowy Turin on Saturday.
   It was a sixth win in seven league games for Juve with 34-year-old Del Piero’s landmark goal coming from the penalty spot following strikes from Mauro Camoranesi, Amauri and Giorgio Chiellini.
   The victory moved Juventus above AC Milan on goal difference, just three points behind leaders and champions Inter Milan but both Milanese giants play on Sunday.
   Juve coach Claudio Ranieri was coy on challenging for the title despite having banished last week’s 1-0 defeat at Inter from memory.
   ‘It wasn’t easy, they pressed a lot. They have a lot of ability, they’re a very good group,’ he said of woeful Reggina.
   ‘They play close together and are very dangerous on the counter-attack but the important thing was to upset their balance and we did that.
   ‘Inter should win the title while we should improve on last season’s finish (third). We are more cohesive and have a year of work behind us and the new players have slipped well into the team.’
   The heavy defeat was the fifth time in eight away matches this season that Reggina have lost by at least three goals and leaves them with by far the worst defensive record of the 20-team division.
   Centre-back Chiellini and the evergreen Del Piero had both gone close for the hosts before Camoranesi gave them the lead on 28 minutes.
   Del Piero sent Czech veteran Pavel Nedved free down the inside left channel and he drew goalkeeper Andrea Campagnolo before pulling the ball back for the Argentine-born Italy midfielder to slot home.
   Reggina almost responded immediately as defender Santos flicked a Franco Brienza free-kick onto the bar with Alex Manninger a helpless spectator in the Juve goal.
   Three minutes from the break, though, Campagnolo saved his team by tipping a firm drive from Nedved over the bar when the winger looked certain to score.
   But the visitors, who sit third bottom, didn’t hold out for much longer as Brazilian forward Amauri held off two defenders under a high ball in the area which then bounced kindly for him to fire home low to Campagnolo’s left.
   Chiellini added the third with his head from close range 17 minutes into the second half as Reggina’s defence stopped and watched Marco Marchionni’s deep free-kick.Brienza had the ball in the net direct from a quickly-taken free-kick midway through the half as Juve were forming their wall but the referee wrongly disallowed the goal because he wasn’t ready either.
   Del Piero added the fourth on 74 minutes from the penalty spot after substitute Sebastian Giovinco had gone down very easily under very barely a challenge from Bruno Cirillo to round off Reggina’s night of misery.
   In the day’s early match Catania failed to move level on points with fourth-placed Napoli after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to lowly Lecce.
   The Sicilian hosts took the lead just after the hour mark as young star Michele Paolucci’s shot was deflected in.
   But the visitors earned the point that edges them further away from the drop zone when Argentine substitute Jose Ignacio Castillo crashed home a shot from distance eight minutes later.

On the eve of being named European Footballer of the Year, Ronaldo will be called a conman, a diver, a cheat.
   But Sir Alex Ferguson insists the only cheats are the players trying to kick the Portuguese star out of the Premier League.
   And he believes ignorant fans are helping Ronaldo’s assailants escape punishment.
   Ronaldo will be named European Footballer of the Year today – the first United winner since George Best in 1968.
   Ferguson delivered a gushing eulogy, hailing Ronaldo as a mixture of Tommy Lawton, Tony Hateley, Jimmy Johnstone, Maradona, Johan Cruyff and Pele.
   But Ferguson’s first concern is to get Ronaldo protection.
   Because he clearly believes that Ronaldo’s talent is being undermined by opposition players, supporters and referees.
   Ferguson told the News of the World: ‘Cristiano had an operation in the summer which was the result of consistent tackling on him but that hasn’t deterred him – he is just a naturally brave boy.
   ‘It never stopped Maradona or Pele. You don’t think of injury when you have a ball at your feet because you want to do something with it
   ‘And that’s not getting recognised properly. He is wanting to do something with the ball and fans are chanting “cheat, cheat” at him but who is the cheat?
   ‘Who is cheating football? It’s not Cristiano. How do we know who the cheats are in this game? It’s stupid – it’s a stupid game.’
   Ferguson is growing increasingly exasperated at the treatment of Ronaldo, both from the stands and on the pitch.
   And he held up last weekend’s goalless draw at Villa Park as a prime example.
   Ferguson said: ‘What you are finding now is that supporters are helping teams to get away with what they are doing.
   ‘At Villa, every time Ronaldo was tackled the fans were screaming at him but you have to handle that and the boy is handling it very well.
   ‘I thought Villa got off with murder and the crowd got to the referee.
   ‘In fairness to Villa they did it well. They got three or four bodies around him and there was systematic fouling by each one at a time.
   ‘But that’s our country for you I’m afraid.’
   Ferguson received an apology from Wayne Rooney after the midweek game at Villarreal, the England striker saying sorry for a dive.
   But it is not a crime that should be associated with Ronaldo, says the United manager.
   He said: ‘If you go at the pace he goes at and there are two and three bodies around him and clicking at his heels and they are getting at the side of him, where does he go? What does he do?
    ‘The speed he’s going at, it’s inevitable he will lose balance – no question about that.’
   Ferguson once worried that the persistent targeting of Ronaldo might drive the world’s best player out of the English game.
   But not any more.
   He said: ‘All the great players over the years – the Maradonas, Cruyffs, Peles - they all took a kick.
   ‘It didn’t deter them at all. I remember wee Jimmy Johnstone at Celtic. As soon as he was fouled he would take the free-kick quickly and go straight at the defender who had just fouled him to let him know he wouldn’t be bullied by him and Ronaldo is prepared to do the same thing and take the ball immediately.
   ‘I think his courage is a natural thing and you don’t lose that even if you get an injury.’
   Already FIFPRO World Player of the Year, Footballer of the Year, PFA Player of the Year, Ronaldo will add the official World Player of the Year and the European Footballer of the Year to his honours list over the next couple of weeks. And Ferguson believes the accolades are just rewards for a player who has no weaknesses in his game.
   He said: ‘We are all delighted for the boy. For anyone to score 42 goals as a winger in our country or any country is phenomenal.
   ‘He scored in the Champions Cup final, he had a fantastic season and, without doubt, nobody came near him.
   ‘I don’t know if his finishing is underestimated but his goalscoring ability is obvious. You only have to look at his headed goal against Roma last season. When did you last see a header like that?
   ‘You’d have to go back to Tommy Lawton, you really would. Or, Tony Hateley may be. People who had that kind of ability to climb and hang in the air.
   ‘That goal was a throwback – his spring is fantastic.’
   Infamously of course, City’s new owners made Ronaldo a transfer target within hours of taking over at Eastlands.
   Just as he did then, Ferguson laughs off the suggestion.
   ‘It’s like a Christmas list that kids write saying they want this and that,’ he smiled.

Former Chile and Lazio striker Marcelo Salas, who scored a record 37 goals for his country, has retired at the age of 33.
   ‘I had a meeting today with Marcelo and he said he had decided not to carry on playing,’ said Universidad de Chile director Federico Valdes in a television interview on Friday.
   ‘Marcelo’s last professional match was against Cobreloa the other Sunday when he scored two goals.’
   Former Latin American Player of the Year Salas began his career at Universidad in 1994 before joining Argentina’s River Plate in 1996.
   He helped Chile qualify for the 1998 World Cup, their first appearance in the finals for 16 years, and netted four goals as they reached the last 16, forming an excellent partnership with Ivan Zamorano.
   Salas then moved to Lazio where he spent three seasons and helped the Italians win Serie A.
   In 2001 he moved to Juventus but was plagued by injuries and his career was never the same again.
   Salas returned in 2003 to River Plate where he spent two seasons but continued to be troubled by injury and eventually rejoined Universidad.
   He equalled Zamorano’s total of 34 goals for Chile in 2001 but needed another
   four years to break the record, finally hitting the target in a World Cup qualifier against Bolivia.
   Salas scored his final two international goals in a 2-2 draw in Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier last year.

Sir Alex Ferguson has upset predictions on his possible retirement date after declaring he will will remain in the Manchester United hot seat for some time yet.
   Having won all there is to win during 22 years at Old Trafford, including two of the club’s three Champions League/European Cup triumphs, Ferguson was widely expected to step down at the end of season.
   However, the 66-year-old Scot - who previously stated he would step down at the end of the 2001/02 campaign, only to then go back on that decision - insists retirement is simply not an issue.
   ‘Why would I pack it in at the moment?’ the United chief said in the News of the World.
   ‘I don’t ever think about it any more - it’s all out of my mind. It doesn’t even come into it now. I don’t even think about it.
   ‘I am not even going to put myself into that situation where I am thinking: ‘Should I this year, should I next year?’’
   Ferguson, who has been involved in football management for 30 years, said the only thing that would force him to make such a decision would be deteriorating health.
   ‘If my health deteriorated, that solves the problem for everyone,’ he added.
   ‘You would be rid of me for good!
   ‘Secondly, it’s about my team. If they are doing well, then there’s no pressure on me.’

Germany coach Joachim Low on Sunday advised Real Madrid defender Christoph Metzelder to consider leaving the Spanish giants in order to get more match practice and save his international career. The 28-year-old defender has struggled for regular first-team football since joining Real in 2007 and Low says Metzelder may need a new club in January’s transfer window. ‘If Christoph wants to get back in the German national team, then he must play either with Real or another club,’ Low told German sports agency SID.
   ‘Without match practice, it will become enormously difficult for him.’ Having been a mainstay for Germany at Euro 2008, Metzelder has played just two league games for Real this season and lost his place in the Germany team for the World Cup qualifiers against Wales and Russia in October.