India (160/5) beat Australia (159) by 5 wickets
   Teenage fast bowler Ishant Sharma reinforced his status as one of the most exciting young talents in world cricket with a man-of-the-match performance to inspire his side to a five-wicket victory in a tri-series match against Australia at the MCG here Sunday.
   Set just 160 to win after Sharma rocked the Australians with four wickets, there were plenty of anxious moments for the young Indians with the
   bat when they lost 3-13 to slump to 102 for five against tight bowling from the Australian seamers.
   India had looked in control at 89 for two, but when Sachin Tendulkar’s 400th one-day international innings ended on 44 and Yuvraj Singh’s woeful summer continued when he departed for three, the Australians had the scent of victory.
   However, youngster Rohit Sharma (39 not out) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (17 not out) weathered the storm with determined and composed batting that yielded an unbroken 58-run stand to ensure victory.
   Dhoni praised Ishant Sharma’s bowling and said he and Rohit Sharma were content to see off Australia’s fast bowlers and wait for the part-time spin of Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds late in the Indian innings.
   ‘They had four perfect bowlers, but they had to use the part-timers and we were just waiting for them,’ he said.
   ‘Rohit was up to the mark and we batted well. We knew there would be chances, we just had to wait for the right moment.’
   The result breathed new life into the tri-series and was just India’s second one-day win against the home side in 18 matches in Australia since 1986.
   After winning the toss and electing to bat, the Australians made their second-lowest total ever batting first with only 159 in 43.1 overs.
   Australian captain Ricky Ponting, whose own form woes continued when he failed to reach double figures, was pleased with how his side fought back in the field, but conceded they never had enough runs on the board.
   ‘We bowled really well, fielded well and kept ourselves in the game for a long time,’ he said.
   ‘But 159 was never enough and we batted poorly tonight, and India bowled and fielded well.’
   Ishant Sharma overcame problems with his run-up and early punishment from opener Matthew Hayden to wreak havoc on the Australian top order, claiming 4-38 just a day after Virender Sehwag warned India were after Australia’s title as the world’s best team.
   Sharma, 19, should have had five wickets, with wicketkeeper Dhoni grassing a chance from tail-ender Nathan Bracken late in the Australian innings.
   He was well supported by Shanth Sreesanth, with 3-31, and Irfan Pathan (2-26).
   Only Mike Hussey held the Australian innings together with an unbeaten 65, his 53-run stand with Brett Lee for the seventh wicket adding much- needed respectability to the total.
   Sharma wrapped up the innings when Dhoni completed his fifth dismissal of the innings to remove Stuart Clark.

A minute’s silence ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby in memory of those who died in the 1958 Munich air disaster was fully respected at Old Trafford.
   There had been concerns that some City fans, so strong is their dislike of United, would jeer during the silent tribute.
   But after the respective managers Sir Alex Ferguson and Sven Goran Eriksson had led out the teams and laid wreaths in centre field, the packed crowd fell silent and there was no disruption inside the ground.
   However, as a capacity crowd stood to remenber the dead, what sounded like firecracker-style bangs were heard from outside the Old Trafford.
   Sunday’s match took place in the week of the 50th anniversary of the air crash that killed 23 people, including eight Manchester United players and former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Frank Swift, who was working as a football reporter.
   And yet while for many the prevailing mood was one of wanting to honour the likes of Duncan Edwards, regarded by Munich survivor Sir Bobby Charlton as the best footballer he ever played with or against, there had been an atmosphere of concern ahead of the minute’s silence.
   ‘I am just hoping City fans listen to their own club and make it a game for us all to remember,’ said United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
   So worried were City officials they initially suggested that, instead of a silence, a minute’s applause be observed before kick-off so as to drown out any ‘boo-boys’.
   But this week Charlton, who became a key figure in both the England team that won the 1966 World Cup and the United side that lifted the European Cup two years later, said it would be wrong to honour his late team-mates by using the ‘lowest common denominator’.
   Ferguson, seemingly implying City fans couldn’t be trusted to behave responsibly, criticised the scheduling of a derby in this week of all weeks.
   ‘When I saw what the fixture was at this time at the beginning of the season I said ‘who the hell chose that?’,’ he told the Sunday Express.
   ‘It puts pressure on the clubs. We could easily have had Middlesbrough at home or something like that.’
   Back in 1958, the disaster which helped make United a club known around the word, took place when the team was returning from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade.
   Their airplane had stopped to refuel in Munich when the crash happened after a failed take-off.
   United’s youthful side of the time were nicknamed the ‘Busby Babes’ in honour of then manager Sir Matt Busby, who had defied an instruction from the Football Association banning English clubs from playing in Europe.
   The Scot’s side were back-to-back English champions and well-positioned to make it a hat-trick with many believing they were on course to be United’s greatest team.
   Sunday’s match saw United play in an old-fashioned strip, with no names on the back of their shirts and no sponsors’ logos anywhere to be seen on either team’s kit, a reminder of a simpler and, for some fans, better age.
   Yet in a week where the English Premier League openly disussed plans to play
   matches as far as field as Asia and the United States, there was no disguising just how much football had changed in the last 50 years.

The turmoil at the top of South African cricket deepened on Sunday when the board’s chief executive overruled a move to sack coach Mickey Arthur as a selector in a row over racial quotas.
   Arthur was removed from the selection panel Saturday at a meeting of Cricket South Africa’s general council which was chaired by CSA president Norman Arendse, who has also filed a disciplinary complaint against the Proteas coach.
   But CSA chief executive Gerald Majola put himself on a collision course with Arendse by ruling Sunday that Arthur’s role as a selector was an integral part of his contract and the general council had acted beyond its remit.
   ‘Mickey Arthur is contracted by Cricket South Africa (Pty) Ltd, and his contracted duties include being a national selector,’ Majola said in a statement on CSA’s website.
   ‘Only the board of directors of CSA (Pty) Ltd can change this, and therefore the resolution taken at General Council’s teleconference on Saturday to remove Mr Arthur from the selection process is unconstitutional.’
   Arendse has been gunning for Arthur following a furious row over the provisionial 14-man squad for an upcoming tour of Bangladesh which contained only four players of colour.
   Selections are expected to reflect so-called transformation targets that squads should contain at least seven players of colour.
   The squad should have been announced at the beginning of last week but Arendse refused to endorse the line-up and then became involved in a slanging match with Arthur which ended with both men filing complaints to the CSA over their alleged ‘abusive and disrespectful’ behaviour.

I-Ta Chen of Chinese Taipei and Jawairiah Noordin of Malaysia won the boys’ and girls’ singles titles respectively of the GrameenPhone International Junior Tennis Championship that ended at the Zafar Imam Tennis Complex on Sunday.
   Tournament top seed Chen swept aside his twelfth-seeded Canadian opponent Kelsey Stevenson 6-2, 6-1 in front of a packed gallery.
   Noordin, the girls’ number two, capped a fine run in the competition by thoroughly outplaying England’s Lisa Whybourn 6-1, 6-0.
   Elsewhere, Kang Ho-Min and Ju Young-Hwan of Korea clinched the boys’ doubles crown when they defeated Indonesians Hutauruk Tito Paruzin and Sonny Purnomo 7-6, 6-2.
   Meanwhile, Dayal and Venkaketesh of India annexed the girls’ doubles event defeating Chinese Taipei’s Jang and Huang 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
   Dr Golam Mostafa Talukder, secretary of Youth and Sports Ministry, watched the final day’s action and gave away prizes as the chief guest while Shafiul Alam, divisional commissioner of Rajshahi, was present as the special guest.
   Mahbubur Rahman, Rajshahi regional head of GrameenPhone, Mahbub Mohsin, Rajshahi Metropolitan police commissioner, Moklesur Rahman, Rajshahi Range DIG, Khalilur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Rajshahi, also attended the colorful closing ceremony.

THE Khandokar Fazle Sobhan Trophy National Pairs Bridge Tournament 2008, organised by the Bangladesh Bridge Federation, will commence on February 21 at the National Sports Council, said a press release on Sunday.
   The federation has requested the interested players to contact its officials, Mobinul Islam (01552634467) and Habibul Huq (01913526246) or Mesbahur Rahman Khan (01713061116), by February 20.
   The entry fee for the two-day event was fixed at Tk 200.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board is planning to host an academy triangular tournament also involving South Africa and Pakistan in April, a senior official said on Sunday.
   ‘We have been planning to hosts the tournament for quite some time, but could not make it public for lack of confirmation by the participating sides,’ said Ishtiaque Ahmad, the vice-chairman of the BCB’s game development committee.
   ‘South Africa had confirmed their participation a long time ago, but we were struggling to get a third team. We approached India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand and Pakistan agreed finally,’ added Ishtiaque.
   Asked if it would be wise to host a tournament for the academy sides in April, the high time of the Dhaka Primer Cricket League, Ishtiaque said it was not an issue to be worried about.
   ‘Normally we form an academy squad with the backup players of the national team and Bangladesh A team and I don’t think it will be a problem to get them during that time,’ said Ishtiaque, also a member of the BCB.

Bangladesh will take on hosts Malaysia today in their first warm-up match ahead of the ICC Under-19 World Cup. The match will be held at the Royal Military College ground in Kula Lumpur.
   The team, led by left-arm spinner Sohrawardi Shuvo, reached Kuala Lumpur at 7:30am local time on Sunday and had a brief practice session in the evening, said a BCB official.
   Bangladesh will play their second warm-up match against the defending champions Pakistan on February 13 at the Club Aman ground. The Junior Tigers, who finished fifth in the last edition of the tournament, will start their official campaign against Bermuda on February 18.

The Dhaka Bank 22nd Bangladesh International Junior Tennis, which will be participated by 110 boys and 65 girls from 26 countries, starts at the Ramna National Tennis Complex today.
   Of the total Tk 650,000 budget, tournament sponsors Dhaka Bank will provide Tk 500,000.
   The singles champion of the meet will earn 60 ITF points, the doubles champions 50 points, singles’ runner-up 45 points and doubles runners-up 30 points, which will be added to their world ranking.
   Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant for Youth and Sports, Mahbub Jamil will formally inaugurate the eight-day meet tomorrow at 4:00pm on the first day of main draw. Dhaka Bank Limited vice-president Altaf Hossain Sarker will be present as special guest.
   Satellite channel Baishaki TV is expected to telecast live the matches from the semi-final stage.
   A press conference was held at the tennis complex on Sunday. Managing director of Dhaka Bank Shahed Noman, Bangladesh Tennis Federation general secretary Sanaul Huq and assistant vice-president of Dhaka Bank Azam Khan attended the briefing.

GM Abdullah Al Rakib (Rating-2506) earned 4.5 points, IM Enamul Hossain Rajib (Rating-2522) and FM Sk Nasir Ahmed (Rating-2379) earned 4 points each after end of the eighth round of the International Chess Festival of Moscow Open on Saturday.
   In this round Rakib lost against GM Alexander Areshchenko (Rating-2645) of Ukraine, Rajib drew with FM Boris Onoprijchuk (Rating-2390) of Russia and Nasir drew with IM Sergey Sergienko (Rating-2449) of Russian.
   The ninth and final round was in progress on Sunday.

Five players were sharing the lead in the points table on Sunday after the third round of the preliminary phase of the Aromatic Gold 29th National Chess Championship, sponsored by Marico Bangladesh Limited.
   They are: Shamima Akter Liza, Nazrana Khan Eva, Zakia Sultan, Masuda Begum and Jahanara Haque Runu.

Rajshahi won the zonal championship of the Zone A defeating Chapai Nawabganj 24-22 in a keenly contested final of the Exim Bank National Handball Championship at Jamalpur stadium on Sunday.
   Rashedul of Rajshahi was adjudged man-of-the-match.
   The DC of Jamalpur Abdul Huq distributed prizes as the chief guest.

Konika of Biman kept her triple crown hopes alive in the Islami Bank 28th National Badminton by reaching the finals of the women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles to be held today.
   Konika will meet Shapla of Narayanganj in the women’s singles final, face Shapla and Elina in the women’s doubles and pairing with Shumon she will play against Shima and Parash in the mixed doubles final.
   Parash, Rais, Javed and Hannan sealed their semi- final spots in the men’s singles event.

The players’ auction for the Indian Premier League will take place on February 20, it was announced on Saturday. Explaining the details of the auction process, the IPL also announced it has signed up more international players - Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal and Umar Gul, Zimbabwe’s Tatendu Taibu and Sri Lankans Chamara Silva and Tillakaratne Dilshan.
   Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman and commissioner, said Shoaib Akhtar, whose name has been linked with the Indian Cricket League, had already signed an MOU with the IPL, which stands as of Saturday.
   The list of such players can keep increasing till the open players’ auction is held in Mumbai. ‘But no player can directly be signed up by any of the franchises,’ Modi reiterated.
   Modi also announced that the minimum bidding amount for a pool of contracted players in each franchise team has been fixed at three million dollars and the maximum cap at five million dollars.
   IPL has already bracketed Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid as icon players, making them unavailable for any other side other than their city teams. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been termed as a marquee player since he doesn’t have a local team. Modi rubbished media reports that said the base-bidding prize for icon players like Sachin Tendulkar had been fixed at $400,000. ‘Those figures are wrong. We will let you know the real figures in 4-5 days,’ he said.
   Delhi’s franchise owner GMR has made a request to include Virender Sehwag in the icon players list and Deccan Chronicle, the owner of Hyderabad outfit, has made a similar request for VVS Laxman, which Modi said will be discussed.
   During the auction, on February 20, the players will be divided into six categories based on their skills, with the marquee players on top. The divisions are opening batsmen, middle-order batsmen, pace bowlers, spin bowlers, allrounders and wicketkeepers. Chits with players’ name will be picked out from a bowl and the franchisees can bid for them. If no one bids for a player intially, the chit will kept separately and the bidding for the other players will continue.
   The players who won’t be available for the full duration of the tournament will be paid on a pro-rata basis. The IPL board also announced that the players won’t be allowed to shift teams in the first year. The transfer window will be opened in February 2009 and only then, the trading and inter-team transfers of players can be done.
   To help the franchisee owners select their quota of local players - a minimum of four in the side -the IPL governing council have nominated ‘catchment areas’ for each team as follows.
   Mumbai (Reliance India Ltd.): Mumbai, Maharashtra and Vidarbha. Bangalore (UB Group): Karnataka and Goa and Services. Chennai (India Cements): Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Railways. Kolkata (Shah Rukh Khan’s Group): Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam, Tripura and associate member Sikkim. Hyderabad (Deccan Chronicle): Hyderabad, Andhra and Orissa. Delhi (GMR Group): Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Mohali (Preity Zinta Group): Haryana, Punjab, Himachal and J&K Jaipur (Emerging Media Group): Rajasthan, Gujarat, Baroda and Saurashtra.
   ‘There should be four local players, based on the catchment pool areas we have divided today, also including any of the four iconic players already announced, and four under-22 players (from anywhere in the country) in each franchise team,’ Modi said. ‘The BCCI has made it mandatory that the IPL will see 32 under-22 Indian players in action. The limit has been raised from under-21 by one year because BCCI conducts only under-22 tournaments and not for under-21 players.’
   Modi was confident that all contracted Australian players, unless they are playing in the series in Pakistan, will be available to play in the IPL. ‘Cricket Australia, Australian Players Association and we (IPL) are all confident that players who are not busy playing in the series against Pakistan would be available to play in the IPL,’ Modi said.
   Modi also said that seven ICC Elite panel umpires, including Mark Benson, but excluding Steve Bucknor, have been drafted. Rudi Koertzen, Simon Taufel, Billy Bowden, Asad Rauf, Billy Doctrove, Daryl Harper and Benson form the panel.

Defending champions America and France, two of the most successful countries in Davis Cup history, will clash in this year’s quarter-finals after cruising through their World Group first round ties.
   The United States, the 31-time champions, saw off Austria 3-0 while nine-time winners France also opened up a 3-0 lead over Romania.
   The two nations, who have seven wins each from their 14 meetings, will clash in the last eight in April at Winston-Salem in North Carolina where France will attempt to win on American soil for the first time since 1927.
   In Vienna, American doubles powerhouses Bob and Mike Bryan showed no mercy in a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 hammering of Julian Knowle and Jurgen Melzer to take their personal mark in the competition to 14-1.
   ‘It came easy for us,’ said Mike Bryan. ‘After we broke in the first game we were never really under the gun. We never felt any big-time pressure.’
   Andy Roddick and James Blake had both won their opening singles on Friday.
   In Sibiu, Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra saw off Horia Tecau and Florin Mergea 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 3-6, 6-2 as the French reached the quarter-finals for the eighth year in a row.
   After Richard Gasquet and Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had won Friday’s singles, Clement and Llodra, the finalists in Melbourne this year, had been expected to cruise through on Saturday against a pair ranked outside the top 500.
   But after opening up a two-set lead they wasted two match points in the third set before they settled the affair with a commanding final set performance.
   ‘We have the potential to beat (America’s top players) Andy Roddick and James Blake,’ said French captain Guy Forget.
   ‘I’m not worried about it but we will have to play three perfect matches.’
   In Moscow, Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic kept alive Serbia’s chances by defeating Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 7-6, 7-6.
   That made the overall score 2-1 ahead of Sunday’s reverse singles. ‘I’m happy that we’re still in,’ said Djokovic who missed the singles on Friday because of flu.
   ‘It was not really encouraging as we were 2-0 down after the first day with our three best players injured or sick but today we played solid tennis.’
   The winners of the tie will face the Czech Republic, who defeated Belgium 3-0, in the last eight.
   Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek beat Olivier Rochus and Kristof Vliegen 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 in the doubles in Ostrava as the Czechs made the quarter-finals for the first time in six years.
   ‘It’s a relief to go through,’ said Stepanek.
   Argentina eased into the last eight when David Nalbandian and Jose Acasuso beat Jamie Murray and Ross Hutchins 6-2, 7-6, 6-0 in the doubles for a 3-0 win over Great Britain in Buenos Aires.
   The powerful South Americans will face either Israel or Sweden in the last eight.
   ‘Our goal is to win Davis Cup,’ said coach Alberto Mancini whose team can wrap up a tenth 5-0 whitewash from their last 11 home matches in Sunday’s reverse singles.
   Israel opened up a 2-1 lead in their tie after Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram beat Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt 6-3, 7-6, 7-5 in Ramat Hasharon.
   The other last eight tie will see Peru or Spain meet either Germany or South Korea.
   Philipp Kohlschreiber and Philipp Petzschner put Germany into a 2-1 lead over the Koreans after a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 win over Jun Woong-Sun and An Jae-Sung.
   Spain, without world number two Rafael Nadal, beat Peru 3-0 in Lima after Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco wrapped up the tie when they defeated Luis Horna and Ivan Miranda 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 in Saturday’s doubles.

Andrew Symonds’ latest column for News Limited papers, in which he has attacked Cricket Australia, was pulled after it was not approved by the board for publication. Symonds was instead interviewed by the Sunday Mail, where the column was to run, where he spoke of the frustrations of the players over CA’s sponsorship restrictions for the Indian Premier League, which, he felt, could hamper their participation in the tournament.
   ‘Right now a lot of the boys in the Australian side are excited about maybe taking part in the Indian Twenty20 series called the IPL [Indian Premier League] in April,’ Symonds said.
   ‘But we can’t quite work out what’s going on with the
   chiefs at Cricket Australia, who seem to be trying to run interference by putting up a heap of red tape.
   ‘To be brutally honest, as players we just can’t understand the stance they’ve taken,’ he said. ‘We’re all keen to have a hit if the tour of Pakistan gets called off, but Cricket Australia have played what looks like a bit of a trick shot.’
   Peter Young, the CA media director, said there were inaccuracies in Symonds’ column and that there would be a player briefing in the coming week. ‘Cricket Australia is working hard to ensure the IPL is a success and we are keen to see it go ahead with Australian player participation,’ he said. ‘That is subject to some complex issues still being negotiated with India which will be detailed to players next week.’
   The Australian body had earlier said it could veto its contracted players’ participation in case of competing sponsorship issues. CA had expressed concerns over players endorsing products during the IPL that could clash with its own sponsors’ interests.
   However, Lalit Modi, the chairman and commissioner of the IPL, warned the Australian players’ participation would be at risk if CA didn’t soften its stance.
   Symonds said he couldn’t get the logic behind CA’s stance. ‘It’s my understanding Cricket Australia are trying to say that Aussie players can’t play for teams who are sponsored by competitors to Cricket Australia sponsors.
   ‘The way I see it, Queensland are sponsored by XXXX and South Australia are sponsored by WestEnd - but Cricket Australia is sponsored by Foster’s. So CA is trying to say that’s a conflict of interest and because of that we can’t play.
   ‘The weird thing is for years the Pura Cup sponsors have always conflicted with CA sponsors. And it’s the same for blokes like Warnie [Shane Warne], Simon Katich and Justin Langer who play county cricket in England.’
   Symonds’ comments come after Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, said interference on part of the board would be unfair. Like Symonds, Ponting too felt CA’s stance on sponsor protection was odd since the IPL was a domestic tournament, like the county season in England.
   The allrounder suggested that the tournament was being taken seriously by him and his team-mates. ‘This is a pretty big deal for us as players because the IPL looks like being a sensational tournament where the world’s best cricketers get to have a crack at Twenty20.
   ‘As players, we can’t work out whether CA are deliberately trying to be difficult or what the problem is.
   ‘Hopefully common sense prevails and Cricket Australia don’t try and stand in the way of what’s an exciting opportunity and a great concept for cricket. In relation to the Pakistan tour, the Australian players just want to make sure that, if it’s called off, then we can still play in the IPL.’
   ‘The Players’ Association are working hard to try and clear the way so hopefully we can work something out.’

England captain Paul Collingwood hinted that changes were unlikely for the second one-day international against New Zealand in Hamilton on Tuesday.
   Collingwood’s team were comprehensively beaten in the opening match, having been bowled out for a mere 130. Dimitri Mascarenhas and Luke Wright, two stars of England’s two Twenty20 wins, are again set to be overlooked. But Collingwood said: ‘This side has been successful in the past and we’ve been pretty consistent with selection.’
   Wright opened the innings with Phil Mustard in the Twenty20 matches, but England opted for the more conventional Alastair Cook in the 50-over format.
   Cook averages 29 from his 17 50-over internationals, with only one century, but was part of the team that won 3-2 in Sri Lanka in the first part of the winter.
   Wright scored 50 at number seven on his debut against India last summer but has not played a 50-over international since falling for a second ball duck when opening in the final match of that series. The omission of Mascarenhas was perhaps more of a surprise, given his abilities with both bat and ball.
   The 30-year-old Hampshire all-rounder smashed five sixes in 52 against India last summer, before his momentous five sixes in a single over in an unbeaten 36 in the penultimate match of the series at The Oval.

New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent is undergoing treatment to recover from depression, a report in the Herald on Sunday revealed. The news comes on the heels of Shaun Tait announcing his indefinite break from the game, citing physical and emotional exhaustion.
   Vincent confirmed to the newspaper he was on anti-depressants and taking the help of a clinical psychologist. He had been dropped for the home series against Bangladesh following a string of poor scores during New Zealand’s tour to South Africa and the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in Australia.
   ‘For as long as I can remember I’ve been riddled with self-doubt, I’ve had no self-belief, and I’ve just been hating the guy I’ve seen in the mirror,’ he told the Sunday Star-Times. ‘I remember so many days that should have been great days when I’ve gone home, slumped over a chair and thought `I just hate this and I hate myself’.’
   The Herald reported the depression took a heavy toll on Vincent and his family, and he didn’t feature in the domestic fixtures for Auckland for more than a month after returning from Australia. However, he seems to be coping better, having scored fifties in two Twenty20s and a one-dayer since his comeback.

AS Roma bounced back from last week’s dire 3-0 defeat at Siena to beat Reggina 2-0 on Saturday and keep their faint title hopes alive.
   Goals from Cristian Panucci and Brazilian winger Alessandro Mancini secured a comfortable yet unspectacular victory that reduced Roma’s deficit to leaders Inter Milan to five points.
   However, the champions can restore their eight-point advantage if they win at Catania on Sunday.
   Roma’s Daniele De Rossi praised the leaders but said he still felt his team can challenge them.
   ‘They are a great team, the figures speak for themselves, the points that they’ve won and the players that they have,’ he said.
   ‘I know they are not extraterrestrials because we’re not 20 points behind like we were last year. We’re on the same level but they always win and talking about them is a waste of time.’
   Mancini had the first clear chance of the match, forcing Andrea Campagnolo into a fine one-handed save.
   But Reggina did not hold out for long as Roma went ahead on 21 minutes.
   From a quickly-taken corner, captain Francesco Totti crossed deep to the back post where veteran defender Panucci arrived late to score from a tight angle, heading the ball back across goal and in off the far post.
   Reggina had the better of things after the break without ever really looking like finding the net before Roma’s French winger Ludovic Giuly created the winner.
   Giuly twisted, turned and then shot to the far post but Campagnolo parried his effort only for Mancini to slot the loose ball into the empty yet.
   Almost immediately Reggina had their best chance of the match but substitute Nigerian forward Stephen Makinwa crashed his shot against the post with Doni beaten in the Roma goal. Earlier, Bosnian striker Zlatan Muslimovic struck in the last minute to deny Champions League chasing Fiorentina a crucial victory as Atalanta secured a 2-2 draw.
   The visitors twice took the lead but it was Muslimovic who struck back for the hosts on each occasion and fourth-placed Fiorentina will see this as two vital points dropped.
   Young attacking star Giampaolo Pazzini opened the scoring for the Viola on 29 minutes as he turned home a right-wing cross from Riccardo Montolivo but Muslimovic levelled matters just a minute later.
   Franco Semioli scored his first league goal of the season to give the visitors the lead again on the hour mark when he headed home a cross from Swiss midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanovic.
   But in the last minute Muslimovic slid home a dangerous low cross from Argentine Fernando Tissone from inside the six-yard box to keep alive Atalanta’s UEFA Cup hopes.

UEFA has told the top referees to take strong action against dangerous tackles and mass confrontations when the UEFA Cup and Champions League resume this week and next. Referees attending the European governing body’s annual mid-term meeting in Cyprus last week were left in no doubt that aggressive challenges deemed to threaten the safety of an opponent warrant a straight red card.
   They were also asked to get tough on players in ‘mob scenes’ by acting quickly before trouble escalates and not hesitating to issue yellow cards – particularly to players who run a distance to get involved – and red cards in the event of any excessive physical contact.
   ‘The referees are charged with a responsibility of protecting the players’ safety. The players have got to feel safe on the field of play,’ said Hugh Dallas, the Scottish former World Cup referee who is now a UEFA instructor.
   The illegal use of arms and elbows is also becoming ‘more and more dangerous’, according to Dallas. Holding and pushing in the penalty area is an issue on which UEFA believes progress has been made – five penalties were given for this offence in the Champions League group stage – although the message was spelt out clearly once again in Cyprus: if the players ignore the first warning, then book them. The same goes for player misbehaviour in a defensive wall.
   Protecting the image of the game is another concern, following the increased occurrence of mass confrontations and Dallas said, ‘The players involved have to realise, “If I approach this incident, I get a yellow card”. The referees’ instructions are to be equally firm with dissent, be it in words or gestures, and also with players ‘waving cards’ asking for opponents to be booked.’
   To help the man in the middle, UEFA wants improved co-operation with the assistant referees, who must be vigilant away from the pitch, too. From this month, the assistant referee positioned closer to the tunnel will head straight there on the half-time and full-time whistles in an effort to forestall possible trouble between players off the field.
   ‘The aim is to monitor the players as they make their way to the changing rooms,’ Dallas said of a move that will also help combat clubs’ reluctance to release video evidence of trouble in the tunnel, in the event of an incident.
   One official in Cyprus made a particularly instructive comment: ‘The truth is on the TV screen.’ This was said to highlight the difficulty of refereeing in an age of countless camera angles rather than any desire to embrace technology. UEFA president Michel Platini remains firmly opposed to a ‘video referee’ and TV monitors are to be removed from technical areas for all UEFA matches. When asked their own views the referees agreed on both counts, although another show of hands revealed unanimous support for goal-line technology.

Blackburn’s David Bentley has the chance to confirm his status as one of the Premier League’s rising stars today by denting Arsenal’s title challenge but Arsene Wenger has no regrets about selling the England winger.
   Bentley, 23, made the most of his first full start for England against Switzerland last week with a superb display that moved Wayne Rooney to compare him with David Beckham.
   It’s a far cry from his time at Arsenal, when Bentley languished in the reserves with little chance of breaking into Wenger’s star-studded line-up. Bentley, a product of Wenger’s youth academy, felt his career was stagnating and he opted to go on loan to Norwich and then Blackburn, where he impressed enough to earn a permanent move to Ewood Park.
   He has blossomed since and is now rightly regarded as one of the best crossers of a ball in England.
   Wenger, who will see the sleek new-look Bentley at close quarters when Rovers visit the Emirates Stadium on Monday, is still convinced it was right for the player and club that he left back in January 2006.
   ‘It is sometimes difficult to let a player go when you know it is just a question of timing. But you cannot keep everybody and it can come back to haunt you because Bentley is a great player now,’ Wenger said.
   ‘I let him go at a moment where I could have said ‘no, you stay here’ - but I was also conscious there were big players in front of him and he was not experienced enough.
   ‘David always had the belief he was a good player and he will show it, not because he was bearing a grudge or anything against the club. He is convinced of his own ideas and has great belief in himself at that level.’
   Bentley will need to be at his best if Rovers are to give boss Mark Hughes a positive response to his admission that they have get results against the likes of Arsenal if they want to be regarded as more than a decent, mid-table team. ‘It will be a big test coming up against Arsenal as they are one of the top teams, not only in England but in Europe as well,’ Hughes said.
   ‘They are an exceptional team with fantastic talents right through their side and are playing exceptionally well at the moment. It is very difficult to legislate for just one individual when they’ve got so many good players that can have an impact on the game.’
   Wenger has a host of injuries, with Abou Diaby, Tomas Rosicky, Robin van Persie, Johan Djourou and Denilson sidelined. He also has doubts over Manuel Almunia, Mathieu Flamini and Philippe Senderos.
   Blackburn’s cause isn’t helped by a raft of suspensions that will deny Hughes the services of Christopher Samba, David Dunn and Morten Gamst Pedersen. As if that wasn’t bad enough Andre Ooijer, Steven Reid and Ryan Nelsen are expected to miss out through injury and Matt Derbyshire could be absent as his girlfriend is expecting twins.

Michael Owen has vowed to prove his critics wrong and win back a place in the England starting XI.
   The Newcastle striker spent the entire 90 minutes of Fabio Capello’s first game in charge watching from the bench as his international team-mates defeated Switzerland 2-1 at Wembley.
   Capello has already moved to confirm that the former Liverpool and Real Madrid star remains part of his plans, and Owen claims he understands why he did not make it onto the field.
   He told the News of the World, ‘Fabio Capello’s first England team was picked on in-form players, and I fully understand why I was left out.
   ‘Four months with one goal mainly because of injury has not given me the opportunities to show the new manager what I can do.’
   Owen’s absence raised doubts over his England future but the 28-year-old has vowed to prove the critics wrong.
   He said, ‘There is a new England manager and I get left on the subs’ bench and the debate is: is this the beginning of the end of Owen’s international career?
   ‘Fortunately over the last 10 years or more I have always been able to answer all those
   people who are quick to write me off.
   ‘I have proved them wrong time and again - not with words but with my performances out on the pitch.
   ‘And I am certain I will do so this time as well.’
   Owen hopes that when the World Cup qualifiers get under way in September he will be back at the forefront of Capello’s thoughts.
   He said, ‘Some people are going over the top and jumping to conclusions after just one game. After all, it was only a friendly and the first game under a new regime.
   ‘Let’s wait until the World Cup games come around before making any long-term judgements.
   ‘I would be far more disappointed if I had been left out of a qualifier.’

It becomes clear after only three or four questions that this is going to be a difficult interview. Roger Milla does not want to be here, sitting poolside in a five-star hotel in Accra, when he could be shopping, or playing tennis, or just relaxing. He has spoken to too many journalists already in the past couple of days and is in no mood to engage.
   For weeks, I have been looking forward to meeting the most famous African footballer of them all, the man who might have had a World Cup named after him, so memorably did he leave his mark on Italia 90. Milla, who is still mobbed everywhere he goes on this continent, is in Ghana to lend his support to Cameroon in the Africa Cup of Nations, which they will win if they defeat Egypt in this evening’s final, and to work as an ambassador for Puma. The sportswear company, who sponsor Milla, the Indomitable Lions and eight other teams who competed in the Cup of Nations, are using Milla to promote a global ‘peace for a day’ initiative later this year, in which football plays a leading role.
   Milla, who speaks English in a harsh, gruff voice, is grumpy about some travel arrangements later in the day. He punctuates his answers with long pauses, more than 10 seconds, while he distractedly thinks about his career, the future of African football, the next World Cup or whatever else he is asked about. Many of his responses are too short to make a proper sentence. This is hard work.
   Then his phone rings. It is the sort of phone you might expect to see in Miami Vice. Sleek, stylish, and gold. He interrupts the interview for a three-minute chat with his mate, Mett, in French. ‘Yes, shopping would be good. Go to the supermarket maybe, then the boutique. We had a kids’ game last night, that was OK. See you later.’
   He returns to his subject - why he does not want to be a coach. ‘No no, it’s a very dangerous job,’ he says. ‘Not for me. You can be a top, top player for 10, 20 years, then you become a coach, lose two or three games and you’re out. Very, very bad.’
   What about today’s players - do they earn too much money?
   ‘Oh too much, too much. One player will have maybe four or five sponsors, they have much, much more money than before Bosman [the European Court of Justice ruling was in 1995]. We played because we liked football, we didn’t want to do it just for money. We were sportsmen. Now, if you don’t give them what they want, they won’t play.’
   He is about to elaborate when the golden phone rings again. Another conversation about shopping and making arrangements to meet later, to catch up with some old friends. While he talks, I root through the questions I have prepared, mostly based on a résumé of Milla’s remarkable 29-year playing career provided by one of Cameroon’s top sports journalists. Milla - whose name means ‘fast man’ in his native Douala language - does not seem to want to talk about his favourite games, favourite memories. It is time to try a different tack when he ends the call.
   Did he keep in touch with René Higuita after that goal in 1990?
   Suddenly Milla sits upright, becomes animated and talkative. Mention of the madcap Colombia goalkeeper has taken his mind away from the boutique and back to his glory days. That goal in Naples, he says - one of the most famous in World Cup history, when 38-year-old Milla dispossessed Higuita 25 yards out of his penalty area and scored to send Cameroon into a quarter-final against England - was not what it seemed. Spontaneous, opportunistic, exotic, no. It was, he explains, just good tactics, a planned strategy.
   ‘Before we played against Colombia in 1990, I had played with their captain, [Carlos] Valderrama, at Montpellier. When he arrived he didn’t know the city and I showed him around, we became friends.
   ‘One day – more than a year before the World Cup – he gave me a video tape of Colombia games, which had TV footage of Higuita and his tricks (the scorpion kick, the dribbling, the excursions from his goal to the halfway line) and I told Valderrama then, ‘If Cameroon play Colombia in the World Cup, he can’t do that. We have fast players, intelligent players.’
   ‘When we were drawn against them I noticed Higuita was up to his tricks. I saw a chance to dispossess him and took it. It was good tactics, good planning.’
   It also made Higuita look a complete fool. Had they discussed it since? ‘I have seen him a few times, in America and Madrid, and we have each other’s numbers. He is not angry – we talk like brothers. He told me, “That’s football, well played.” He is a gentleman.’
   Milla also has fond words for Gary Lineker – ‘another gentleman’ – and Paul Gascoigne from that famous quarter-final against England, which Cameroon lost 3-2. By now he is reminiscing happily and names that match as one of his two favourites from a career that started in the Cameroonian second division in 1967 and ended, after a 13-year stay in the French league, in 1996 in Indonesia. The other game that stood out was Cameroon’s 1-1 draw with Morocco – Milla scored in the 89th minute – in the 1986 Cup of Nations in Egypt. His favourite coach? Michel Mezy, a former France international, at Montpellier in the 1980s.
   And, by the way, how did he end up in Indonesia?
   ‘It was 1995, I was director of all the national teams in Cameroon and we played a friendly in South Africa. These guys came to the game and they asked me if I would come out of retirement (for the second time) to play in Jakarta for two seasons.
   ‘It was a good contract. There were good players there, from Yugoslavia, Italy, France. I can’t remember their names but it was good standard, good crowds, good money. I stayed for the whole two years. I enjoyed it.’ He was 44 when he finally stopped playing.
   Much of modern football saddens him. The agents, the players’ attitudes, the lack of flair, the money. Did he not have his own ‘money moment’, though, when he failed to appear for Cameroon at Wembley in a 1991 friendly against England? The talk was that he had demanded an appearance bonus from Guinness, the match sponsors, and refused to play when he was not paid.
   Milla is happy to talk about the incident. He says Guinness were keen to pay him, but the deal was blocked by his own federation. ‘I regret it, but it was the Cameroon Federation at fault,’ he says.
   Will we ever see anything like that Cameroon team again, when Milla and others earned worldwide fame, and fans, by defeating Argentina in the World Cup’s opening game, then becoming the first African side to reach the last eight?
   ‘No team could ever do again what we did in 1990,’ he says. ‘The element of surprise is not there. Everybody knows everything about all the teams now.’
   He also feels there are too many inexperienced players in national teams nowadays, that older players are undervalued. Nevertheless, Milla believes an African team can go farther than ever before – none has been past the quarter-finals – in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
   ‘Organisation is the biggest problem. Planning, preparation – you have to get that right first. But if they can do that, with good coaching, yes.
   ‘Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria...if they arrive in the quarter-final they must not think, as we did in 1990, “It’s great just to be here.” They must believe. Then they can do it, they can play in the final.’
   Back to 1990 and other names from the past. We talk about the number of European coaches in African football, about the problems of a local coach trying to exert power over millionaire players from the world’s richest clubs. Cameroon themselves had been coached by a Russian, Valeri Nepomniachi, in Italy. Did Milla keep in touch with him?
   ‘I have seen him once, years ago, but I can’t remember where. But I believe we may be in touch soon. Ask that guy over there.’ Milla points to a tall, young man who looks out of place in his shorts, sandals and white socks. He is a Russian sports writer who bears gifts from Nepomniachi back in his homeland – an original Cameroon 1990 shirt, signed by the coach, and a set of Russian dolls.
   Milla smiles, poses for a picture. But you can see in his eyes that he knows the Russian wants more than a photograph. Oh no, not another interview.
   — The Observer, London

The goals continued to flow at the 2008 African Nations Cup on Saturday with a record created as hosts Ghana beat Ivory Coast 4-2 in the third-place playoff.
   A first-half equaliser by Ivorian striker Boubacar Sanogo was the 94th goal of the 2008 tournament – one more than the previous best set in Burkina Faso 10 years ago.
   There have been 70 goals in the group phase of the African football showcase this year, 16 in the quarter-finals, six in the semi-finals and six in the play-off for a total of 98.
   And with the final between defending champions Egypt and Cameroon to come Sunday in Accra, more goals seem certain as the contenders have struck 14 each in five matches.
   Sulley Muntari, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, Junior Agogo and Haminu Draman scored as Ghana finished third for the first time while Sanogo was on target twice in the opening half to give Ivory Coast a 2-1 lead at the break.
   Ghana coach Claude Le Roy said, ‘My players were fantastic. The Ivory Coast weren’t able to kill the game despite their 2-1 lead at half time.
   ‘Today I have to say a big thank you to my team and to the Ghana Football Association for all their support and backing.’
   Le Roy made two changes from the team beaten by Cameroon in the semi-finals Thursday, depriving them of a chance to become the third consecutive hosts after Tunisia and Egypt to win the biennial tournament.
   Captain John Mensah returned to the defence after serving a one-game ban and Baffour Gyan was brought into attack with Andrew Ayew and Owusu-Abeyie dropped.
   Ivory Coast coach Gerard Gili was more radical, making six alterations to the starting line-up from the heavy loss to Egypt with English Premiership trio Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Abdoulaye Meite among those omitted.
   Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou should have given the Ivorian ‘Elephants’ an early lead, but fluffed two chances before passing to Sanogo who failed to find the net from an acute angle.
   Ghana, appearing in the play-off for only the second time, took a 10th-minute lead thanks to a rocket from another Premiership player on parade, Portsmouth midfielder Muntari.
   He unleashed a left-foot free-kick from outside the penalty area that flew past a crowded goalmouth and through the hands of Tiasse Kone, the only local in the Ivorian squad.
   Sanogo, who plays for German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen, levelled after 24 minutes by sprinting on to a through ball, holding off the giant Mensah, and placing the ball wide of goalkeeper Richard Kingson.
   Eric Addo had a close-range header well held by Kone and Kingson denied Kalou and captain Didier Drogba before Ivory Coast took the lead on 32 minutes at Baba Yara Stadium in the central city.
   Overworked Kingson blocked a close-range Drogba effort, but the rebound rolled kindly for Sanogo, whose tap trickled over the line to complete the first half scoring.
   However, Ivory Coast came tantalisingly close to a third goal as Drogba carved another large gap in the ‘Black Stars’ defence and passed to Sanogo, whose shot beat Kingson only to come back off the crossbar.
   A tame second half came to life after 70 minutes when substitute Owusu-Abeyie left several Ivorians trailing as he turned on the pace before firing under Kone to restore equality in the clash of west African giants.
   Agogo scored his third goal of the Nations Cup on 80 minutes to edge the ‘Black Stars’ ahead, springing an offside trap to burst through and give Kone no chance.
   There was no stopping Ghana in the closing stages and Draman added a fourth five minutes from full-time with a shot from outside the penalty area that took a sudden bounce that left Kone embarrassed as the ball flew over him.

The Premier League are confident that their plan to play matches abroad will become reality after a positive initial reaction from the English FA, chief executive Richard Scudamore said on Sunday. ‘I think it will (happen),’ he told BBC radio. ‘I think it’s got a momentum, I think it’s got a huge amount of merit.’
   The plans for an extra ‘International Round’ to be played from January 2011, which all 20 clubs have agreed to explore, have met a chorus of disapproval from the media and soccer supporters since they were revealed on Thursday. UEFA president Michael Platini branded it a ‘strange and comical idea’ in an interview with the Daily Telegraph on Saturday.
   However Scudamore said the FA, who would have to sanction plans that would extend the Premier League season from 38 to 39 matches, had been more receptive of what he called ‘an idea whose time has come’.
   ‘They, like us, can see the hurdles but they were supportive,’ he said. ‘(FA chief executive Brian Barwick) thought it was a fantastic idea but he did rather, with his humorous way as he does, say I’m sure in a few weeks’ time I’ll have thought of a few reasons why it’s not such a good idea,’ added Scudamore.
   ‘But his initial reaction was that it was a great idea.’
   Scudamore also found an ally in former West Ham great Geoff Hurst, who scored a World Cup-winning hat-trick for England in the 1966 final.
   ‘I come from a club and a background under Ron Greenwood where he very much believed that football was a global game,’ he told the BBC.
   ‘In principle I am not against taking football, and our great teams that are watched all over the world, all over the world for other fans to see live...If they see that as a good idea, then I’m not against it.’
   Scudamore dismissed a suggestion in the Observer newspaper that the FA’s support would be dependent on clubs agreeing to field full-strength teams in the FA Cup, to release players without complaint for all England games and to lend their support to the 2018 World Cup bid.
   ‘They are actually current rules. Clubs do release players because that’s what the rules say they have to do,’ he said.
   Scudamore said he had had a short conversation with FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke, who was in hospital on Thursday and Friday, about the idea and a full briefing to the world body would follow.
   Asked whether the league needed the blessing of FIFA to proceed, he continued: ‘We believe FIFA statutes don’t currently cover this. I think they do deal with clubs not being allowed to go and play in other leagues, which is clearly not what this is, and international fixtures.
   ‘But we are not looking to upset anybody on this. It’s more a question of why would we want to do it and upset everybody in the process? We wouldn’t.’

Fabio Capello insists that David Beckham may be fit enough to be picked for England’s next match – even though the midfielder will still not have played a competitive fixture.
   Beckham was left out of Capello’s first England squad last week on the ground that he was not match fit, having not been involved in a competitive game since November.
   The 32-year-old has returned to pre-season training with the Los Angeles Galaxy but the Major League Soccer season does not kick off until March 29, three days after England’s friendly against France in Paris.
   However, Capello insists the five pre-season friendlies that the Galaxy have lined up beforehand may be enough for the 32-year-old to reclaim his place in the squad.
   Capello said, ‘Surely he will have played friendly matches and those will be important. If he is fit and ready to play then he will be part of my team.’
   The Italian, though, is clearly getting frustrated by the constant attention given to Beckham and if and when he will win his 100th cap.
   Capello added, ‘It seems that the most important thing is whether I choose David Beckham. I think we should focus on England.’
   David Bentley played in Beckham’s usual position on the right of midfield for the first half of England’s 2-1 win over Switzerland on Wednesday, but Capello was more impressed when the Blackburn player moved inside when Shaun Wright-Phillips came on as a substitute.
   That could make it easier for Capello to accommodate Beckham in his next squad. The England manager added: ‘I had seen Bentley play on the right and I wanted to see him in the middle. I want to be clear where players perform best.
   ‘I believe Bentley did very well but in the second half he was particularly good.’
   Meanwhile, Capello said he wanted the England team to develop the same sort of ‘fighting’ attitude as Wayne Rooney.
   Capello said, ‘I have watched three or four of Manchester United’s matches recently and he was always like that.
   ‘This is the spirit I want the team to pick up from him – always fighting and having this sort of spirit is something I want him to transmit to the rest of the team. This attitude is very important.’
   Capello’s No 2 Franco Baldini said after the Switzerland match that some England players lacked the necessary technical expertise but Capello insisted it is more a case of translating their club form to the international stage.
   He added, ‘I have been surprised about the skills some English players have and the qualities they sometimes show. But they show them more when they play for their club and have less pressure on them and that is something we need to look at.
   ‘We have very good quality players in our team.’
   In relation to Michael Owen, who did not feature at all against Switzerland, Capello reiterated that no-one should expect a guaranteed place.
   He said, ‘Some players are particularly valuable for the team but I will try to field the best team we have to do the job. There are no guaranteed places.
   ‘I know Owen very well. I have seen him play many times and there is always room for important players.
   ‘I have five friendlies before the qualifying campaign starts and by then I need to know who I want to play.’
   Asked about the possibility that some fans might think his decision to leave out Owen was harsh, Capello replied, ‘It’s a free country and everyone can think what they like, all I think about is the team.’

Frank Lampard’s long-term future at Stamford Bridge is in fresh doubt. Leading European clubs are considering exploiting a new FIFA ruling which means the England midfielder can quit Chelsea for just £5 million this summer. And Lampard would be willing to invoke it if his employers do not come up with Chelsea at the moment.
   Lampard has been given a huge boost by the recent ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which stipulated that players need to pay only the remainder of their contract if they wish to join another club.
   It means that Lampard can control his exit from Chelsea this summer even if the club do wish to sell him. Barcelona, the club Lampard would most like to join on account of his wife Elen coming from the city, are expected to renew their interest in the England midfielder this summer on the basis of the new ruling.
   They have previously ruled out making a move for him on the basis that the asking price of £20m was too expensive but would happily pay the reduced fee.
   Current coach Frank Rijkaard is expected to leave the club in the summer and there is a concerted campaign by some of the board at the club to bring in former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, whose first move would be to sign Lampard.
   Lampard has already turned down a contract offer from Chelsea and has just one year left on his deal at the end of the season.
   Kutner has previously insisted that Lampard would like to stay at Chelsea but clearly it will be dependent on the contract on offer.
   Now, as long as he serves notice by May 26, Lampard can leave the club by paying up the value of the year remaining on his contract.
   Lampard’s best chance of a move to Barcelona would clearly be if Mourinho was appointed. His agent Jorge Mendes spent two days at the club this month, fuelling speculation that a deal would announced shortly.
   However, given the animosity displayed by Mourinho towards the Catalan club during the infamous Champions League ties with Chelsea in 2006, when Mourinho accused Rijkaard of colluding with referee Anders Frisk, there is still significant opposition to his appointment.
   Most notably influential former Barca player and manager Johan Cruyff is said to be vehemently against the idea of employing the Portuguese.

For the second week running Spanish international Xavi came to Barcelona’s rescue scoring a 75th-minute equaliser to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at ten-man Sevilla on Saturday.
   Barcelona are now five points behind leaders Real Madrid although the champions have the chance to move eight points clear when they host Valladolid on Sunday.
   Barca looked to be heading for defeat after 19-year-old Diego Capel had put Sevilla ahead in the first half but Xavi, who scored a late winner against Osasuna last weekend, levelled to snatch a draw.
   ‘We came from behind to get a point so that is something,’ said Barca midfielder Andres Iniesta. ‘It is so difficult to win here at Sevilla. We tried but just came up short.’
   Sevilla, who were reduced to ten men late on when Seydou Keita was sent off, stay seventh and will rue the missed chance to bolster their European push and enact revenge for last month’s Kings Cup to Barcelona.
   ‘I had lots of chances,’ admitted Capel. ‘I enjoyed the game and we played well but it is just a shame I couldn’t score the vital goal to win the match.’
   Barcelona were without Carles Puyol, Deco, Yaya Toure, Samuel Eto’o, Bojan Krkic and Gianluca Zambrotta so coach Frank Rijkaard brought Mexican striker Giovanni Dos Santos, Oleguer and Edmilson in for rare starts.
   Sevilla welcomed back Keita and Freddy Kanoute into the starting line-up after the duo’s return following Mali’s elimination from the African Cup of Nations.
   Brazilian Daniel Alves also started after having a suspension lifted and almost opened the scoring after 10 minutes with his fierce free-kick punched away by Victor Valdes.
   Thierry Henry then had a good chance at the other end for Barca but the angle was tight for the Frenchman whose shot was stopped by the outrushing Andres Palop.
   The game was played at an incredible tempo with two of the most attacking teams in the league both going for the jugular.
   However, Sevilla always looked the more likely to score and on 34 minutes Capel arrived late to steer in a Jesus Navas cross for his first goal of the season.
   Ronaldinho came on at the beginning of the second half for Edmilson as Rijkaard pushed for an equaliser.
   It came from Xavi with a quarter hour remaining with the midfielder drilling a low shot through the hapless Palop who should have done better.
   Keita was red-carded 60 seconds later collecting a second caution for a late tackle on Lionel Messi.
   Both teams could have won it late on with Capel, a product of Sevilla’s impressive youth academy, going agonisingly close after an incredible solo run.
   Earlier, Villarreal reclaimed third place with a last-gasp goal from Guille Franco clinching a 1-0 win over Real Murcia on Saturday.
   ‘We have taken three points from a very difficult ground something that Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid didn’t manage,’ said Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini.
   Villarreal move three points above Espanyol, in action against Recreativo Huelva on Sunday, although they were indebted to Mexican striker Franco for a 93rd minute winner.
   Troubled Deportivo La Coruna shared a 1-1 draw with Getafe that does little for either team.
   Deportivo lie 15th a point from the relegation zone while Getafe stay 11th in mid-table obscurity.

Everton piled the pressure on Liverpool by grinding out a 1-0 win over Reading that tightens the Toffees grip on fourth place in the Premier League.
   On a day when none of the top three clubs were in action, there were few of the thrills and spills that have helped make English football so popular around the world and generated proposals for matches to be played at overseas venues. Even Everton boss David Moyes admitted his side’s win, which sent Reading down into the relegation zone, had not been a pretty affair.
   Phil Jagielka headed in his first Premier League goal just after the hour mark to condemn Reading to a seventh straight defeat.
   Aston Villa moved above Liverpool into fifth place after a 4-1 win over Newcastle that saw Norwegian striker John Carew claim a second-half hat-trick.
   Below them, Sunderland notched up a convincing 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Wigan.
   Nigeria forward Dickson Etuhu headed in a Dean Whitehead free-kick to give Roy Keane’s side a first-half lead and Daryl Murphy added a stunning 25-yard drive with quarter of an hour left.
   Fulham’s chances of survival suffered another setback as Middlesbrough continued to pull away from the drop zone with a 1-0 win at the Riverside, courtesy of an 11th-minute strike from former Arsenal striker Jeremie Aliadiere.
   Birmingham leapfrogged Reading to escape from the relegation zone thanks to a 1-1 draw at West Ham, who finished the match with ten men following Lee Bowyer’s late sending-off.
   Freddie Ljungberg scored his first goal in a year to reward the Hammers for a bright start but Birmingham were soon level, James McFadden scoring from the spot after he was brought down by Anton Ferdinand.
   Tottenham’s steady climb up the table under Juande Ramos continues, although the Londoners left it late at bottom side Derby before securing a 3-0 win.
   Robbie Keane tapped in the rebound from Steed Malbranque’s shot to finally break the home side’s resistance in the 68th minute and Younes Kaboul and Dimitar Berbatov, with a stoppage time penalty, completed the win.
   France midfielder Lassana Diarra’s second-half strike and a superb late save by England goalkeeper David James were enough to secure all three points for Portsmouth at Bolton.

Rafa Benitez has again risked the wrath of Liverpool’s American owners by blaming them for ruining his team’s title hopes.
   The Anfield boss says their bid to replace him with Jurgen Klinsmann late last year de-stabilised the club and undermined all hopes of winning the Premier League.
   Benitez chose his words carefully – hardly surprising after receiving a rap from Tom Hicks and George Gillett for earlier outbursts.
   But he said, ‘What is evident is that back at that time we were in a great position and the team was in shape to win many of the games which we eventually drew.
   ‘So the entire process is what allowed the gap to open between us and the leaders.
   ‘If I wanted, I have the perfect excuse.
   The only solution I have is to try to bury myself in my work. And it is vital we win today to enable us to fight at least for that fourth-place spot.’
   Meanwhile, Benitez concedes that sometimes he gambles too much with his rotation policy.
   That is a remarkable admission from the Spaniard, who always defiantly defends his system of resting players on a regular basis.
   It has meant that from day one of the season he has now made a staggering 279 changes to his line-ups, week on week, and shows no sign of sticking to his best side as critics continually claim he should.
   Benitez averages an amazing five changes a match and has only kept an unchanged side once this term.
   ‘If I need to make gambles, then I will make gambles.
   ‘We have been in two Champions League finals and an FA Cup final. That is because we change the side. Sometimes it is good and works, sometimes not. But nobody really knows whether what I do is right.
   ‘All I will say is that Liverpool and I have won a lot of trophies doing this.’