Coach Guus Hiddink said Russia’s success at Euro 2008 had surprised him and told his players to enjoy themselves in their semi-final against Spain because whatever the result it would make them better players. Hiddink’s men tactically outwitted Netherlands 3-1 in their quarter-final, to set up a second meeting in the tournament with Spain, who won their group stage encounter 4-1 in a poor defensive display from the Russians.
   They have since tightened up at the back and honed their exciting attacking style of play and Hiddink said he was impressed at how quickly they had turned things round.
   ‘I am surprised … not by the skill, I knew the skill of the players was tremendous. They can control, they can pass and they are skilful players,’ he told reporters after a training session in Basel on Monday.
   ‘I was surprised by their openness and the way they learnt very fast some international principles and laws of the game.’
   He kept his cards close to his chest about how he might change the team’s approach from the first match against Spain, saying only that he did not expect his opponents to alter their game on Thursday in Vienna.
   He has been encouraging the players to savour the moment and not feel under too much pressure.
   ‘It is tremendous to have these experiences,’ he said. ‘It’s those rare moments in the sport where you have to enjoy it. When you can enjoy it, normally you play at your best.
   ‘We don’t pressurise ourselves, we just want to play football.’
   His players are relishing the prospect of turning the tables on the team that shredded their defence two weeks ago.
   ‘I wanted to play the Spanish,’ midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov told reporters. ‘The whole team made mistakes against Spain and now we’ve fixed them.
   ‘It’s not a group game, it’s for real. It’s a stronger atmosphere, you have to concentrate and not make mistakes.’
   Captain Sergei Semak agreed, saying: ‘We made mistakes the first time, we won’t do again.’
   The Russians’ self belief has been growing by the game but they said it was still too early to be thinking about whether they could actually go all the way.
   ‘Everybody is talking about us winning the tournament but to do this we must win the next two games, two very difficult games,’ said Bilyaletdinov.

India captain Mahendra Dhoni would love nothing more than to emulate the feats of predecessor Kapil Dev and lead his country to World Cup glory at Lord’s.
   Speaking ahead of the launch of the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup launch in London, Dhoni said it would be a dream if he were to be lifting a trophy just as Kapil did when India won the World Cup proper at Lord’s in 1983.
   And Dhoni’s side are likely to be one of the favourites for the shorter version having won the inaugural 20-over version in South Africa last year.
   ‘Of course I would love to do that,’ said Dhoni. ‘But it’s the team that makes a good captain and I like to distribute the pressure and responsibility around the whole team.
   ‘It would be a dream to lift the trophy at Lord’s but I don’t want to look that far ahead and if it does happen it would be an all-round team effort.’
   India’s triumph last year changed the attitude of their board to Twenty20 from one of apathy to rampant enthusiasm, with the creation of the cash-rich Indian Premier League the most telling by-product of the national side’s success
   ‘Before the event last year no one really knew how it was going to work,’ Dhoni said in a statement ahead of the tournament launch at The Oval.
   ‘People said the players wouldn’t be taking it very seriously and it’s true that at the start even the players were unsure about it.’
   However, he added: ‘It was a great tournament and a sweet moment when we won. It is one of the things I will cherish for the rest of my life.’
   But the wicket-keeper said the rise in Twenty20 did not mean an end to Test cricket.
   ‘Test cricket is very different and has its own place. I don’t see that changing and I am not worried about the future of Test cricket.
   ‘People still see it as the top of the sport and it is so different from Twenty20 that I think it is safe.
   ‘If there is one format that could suffer it is the 50-over game because it is more like Twenty20.
   ‘It was brought in to make cricket quicker and more exciting but now Twenty20 has brought that to another level. It’s over in three hours - it is like a movie for the whole family to enjoy.’

B league champions Dhaka Abahani went down fighting to former champions Regar Tadaz of Tajikistan 2-1 in the second Group A match of the AFC Presidents Cup at the Petaling Jaya Stadium, Malaysia on Tuesday. With two consecutive losses Abahani crashed out of the competition.
   Ibrahim Rabimov of Regar Tadaz put the Tajik side ahead on the 15th minute after a combined effort but Abahani’s Ghanaian forward Awudu Ibrahim equalised in the 25th minute. However on the stroke of half-time Jamshed Ismailov scored the eventual winner. Regar Tadaz now top the table with six points.
   In the other match of the day, Nepal Police and Pakistan Wapda drew 1-1. Abahani, who lost 0-4 against Nepal Police, face Pakistan Wapda on Thursday. Wapda lost 1-2 against Regar Tadaz in their first match.

The AB Bank 29th National Table Tennis Championship got underway on Tuesday at the NSC Gymnasium with Khulna and Gaibandha making winning starts in the men’s and women’s team events.
   Khulna, Narail, Pabna, Gaibandha, Bagerhat and Feni defeated Dinajpur, Manikganj, Moulavibazar, Habiganj, Rangpur and Rajshahi in the men’s team event.
   In the women’s section Gaibandha, Narail, Dhaka and Ansar overpowered Khulna, Patuakhali, Naogaon and Gaibandha. Later Ansar, Biman, Pabna and Feni won their respecrtive group finals.
   In the boy’s team event Dhaka, Khulna, Dinajpur and Biman won their respective matches.
   Rasheda K Chowdhury, the adviser of the caretaker government, inaugurated the event as the chief guest. Sajedur Siraj, the vice-chairman of the AB Bank, and Abu Solaiman Chowdhury, the president of the Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation, were also present.

Defending champion Venus Williams successfully launched her bid for a fifth Wimbledon title on Tuesday as a sun-kissed All England Club waited to greet fellow superstars Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova.
   Williams recovered from 1-3 down in the first set to see off Britain’s Naomi Cavaday 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 and will meet another Briton, Anne Keothavong, for a place in the last 32.
   The 28-year-old American blamed a Centre Court bee for her sluggish start.
   ‘I was about to serve. I felt something on my leg. It was a bee, a big old bumblebee,’ said Williams.
   ‘I didn’t want it to sting me. Then I ended up losing that service game, so I guess the bumblebee got me off to a bad start.’
   Japan’s Ai Sugiyama celebrated her record 57th consecutive appearance at a Grand Slam with a first round 6-4, 6-2 win over Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer.
   Sugiyama, 32, who now plays Flavia Pennetta, the Italian 22nd seed, took sole possession of the longest Grand Slam appearance streak for a man or woman, pulling clear of the previous holder, South Africa’s Wayne Ferreira.
   Fittingly Sugiyama took the record here at Wimbledon, where she is now playing for the 16th year in a row.
   ‘I never thought that I would beat the record when I started out so many years ago,’ Sugiyama told AFP.
   ‘I’m not sure how long I can carry on but the secret is in the motivation.’
   Fellow Asian favourite Sania Mirza of India, the 32nd seed, playing only her fourth match since March, needed treatment on a shoulder injury but still was too good for Colombia’s Catalina Castano 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-4.
   The 21-year-old now plays Spanish qualifier Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez next knowing a win would give take her to the third round for the first time.
   ‘It’s always good to get through a match like that when you are coming back from injury,’ said Mirza.
   ‘For the first time I was nervous about playing. I didn’t sleep very well last night but that’s what happens when you have been injured.’
   Later Tuesday, Nadal begins his campaign to become the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back when he tackles German qualifier Andreas Beck, a Grand Slam debutant and fellow left-hander.
   Nadal won his first career grasscourt title at Queen’s last week and has been a runner-up to six-time Roger Federer for the last two years.
   Andy Roddick, the 2004 and 2005 runner-up, faces Argentina’s Eduardo Schwank while British hope Andy Murray meets French veteran Fabrice Santoro.
   Women’s second seed Jelena Jankovic opens her
   Wimbledon against Olga Savchuk of Ukraine while 2004 champion Maria Sharapova takes on France’s Stephanie Foretz.

India’s South African coach Gary Kirsten Tuesday said it was vital to try different combinations to keep players fresh amid a hectic and demanding international calendar.
   ‘I am very much in favour of a rotation policy to keep the players fresh and we need to have a pool of around 20 players,’ said Kirsten ahead of his team’s first match in the six-nation Asia Cup against Hong Kong here on Wednesday.
   India, three times champions, are in Group B with hosts Pakistan and Hong Kong. Titleholders Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and United Arab Emirates are in Group A.
   India, who won a tri-series tournament in Australia earlier this year, lost to Pakistan in the final of another tri-series tournament in Bangladesh earlier this month, missing key players Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth through injuries.
   Kirsten said the injuries to key players emphasised the importance of rotation.
   ‘We have got to rest players and we have got to rotate. Test match cricket is tough with bowlers bowling around 25 overs a day in three to four Tests and it is tough. So we need to rotate players,’ said Kirsten, who played 101 Tests and 185 one-day matches for South Africa.
   Kirsten, 40, who took over as India coach in March, said a system needs to be created to avoid injuries.
   ‘The system needs to create that and it is unfair to ask the player himself to be rested and he is also worried that if his replacement does well then he will lose his place,’ he said.
   ‘So we need a rotation system in which if we rest a bowler, and his replacement does well, he still remains the number one bowler and gets his place back.’
   Kirsten said a lot of planning and thinking goes into modern cricket.
   ‘There is always lot of planning, lots of thinking, new ideas and we are playing so much cricket that there is no time out to work on someone’s technique so we need to do it on the road,’ he added.
   Kirsten said India need to take every team seriously to win the Asia Cup.
   ‘We’ve got to take every opposition seriously and we’ve got to try and play proper cricket.’
   ‘We are always looking at new ways of playing the game. Pick up new ideas, new shot making, just trying to improve their game by five to 10 percent and that can make all the difference,’ he said.
   Kirsten revealed his batsmen have been trying the switch hit used so effectively by England batsman Kevin Pietersen in the ongoing one-day series against New Zealand.
   ‘We were doing this even before this thing (Pietersen) came up. We are trying things all the time and that’s the way cricket is going. We are trying to innovate and that’s the way it is.’

Zimbabwe’s cricket status is set to be discussed at next week’s meeting of the International Cricket Council in Dubai after Cricket South Africa suspended ties with its African neighbour on Monday.
   CSA acted in light of the growing political turmoil in Zimbabwe, where the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change party has pulled out of the presidential election.
   ‘The ICC has never concerned itself with how member countries are governed,’ ICC president-elect David Morgan, speaking at the launch of the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup here at The Oval, said Tuesday.
   ‘However, yesterday (Monday) Cricket South Africa announced that they were scrapping bilateral contact with Zimbabwe Cricket.
   ‘It has been decided to put Zimbabwe on the agenda of the executive board meeting of the ICC which takes place next Wednesday in Dubai.’
   South Africa’s decision is of key significance given their longstanding support of Zimbabwe Cricket.
   Zimbabwe were announced as one of the 12-teams competing in next year’s Twenty20 World Cup in England but their participation must now be in doubt.
   If they do have to be replaced, a third associate or junior cricket nation would take their place.
   ‘Cricket South Africa’s decision yesterday is hugely significant,’ Morgan added ahead of a meeting of the ICC’s 13-strong board.
   ‘Clearly they will want something done. They’re very influential in terms of southern African cricket and Zimbabwe is part of that,’ the former chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board added.
   ‘Quite where the various members will stand on it I really don’t know - all of this is new as of five o’clock yesterday,’ admitted Morgan, due to take over from South Africa’s Ray Mali as the head of world cricket.
   Zimbabwe effectively suspended themselves from Test matches after a decline in performance brought on by a selection race row. It would need the votes seven out of the other nine full ICC members for them to be suspended from one-day internationals.
   That the ICC’s annual meeting is taking place in Dubai rather than at Lord’s is down to the refusal of the British government to grant a visa to ZC chairman Peter Chingoka.

German football legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said Tuesday that the quality of the Euro 2008 championships shows there is no need for the so-called ‘6+5’ plan to limit foreign players in domestic leagues.
   ‘I have the personal impression that the Euro is at a very, very high level. The quality is fantastic,’ Rummennigge told journalists at a press conference by the European Club Association, of which he is chairman.
   ‘So do you see the need to have a change in the national team football matter? I believe it is fantastic and I don’t see any need to change something that is running good,’ he said.
   FIFA President Sepp Blatter has proposed that clubs could field a maximum of five foreign players alongside five home-grown ones, amid concerns that some leagues such as the English Premiership have become too reliant on foreign talent.
   But the plan has already fallen foul of the European Commission which said it would breach EU labour laws.
   Rummenigge said ‘6+5’ would pose a headache for many top-flight European clubs like Arsenal or Inter Milan, and that smaller countries also benefit from being able to nurture their talent in the top-flight leagues.
   ‘It is very important for the development of certain countries like Czech Republic and Croatia to have their players abroad in leagues like the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A,’ he said.
   The ECA chairman also hailed the English Premier League as a ‘good example’ for club football worldwide, particularly in terms of brand development and overseas marketing.
   ‘The Premier League has done a fantastic job... we have to respect them for the job done in the past 10-15 years,’ he said.
   The ECA represents 103 football clubs from all the 53 national associations represented within UEFA.
   Rummenigge said the association would seek to get involved in all aspects of the game, for example disputes between clubs such as the current spat between Manchester United and Real Madrid over Cristiano Ronaldo.
   However, he shied away from any role for the ECA in setting standards of who should be eligible to own football clubs.
   The English Premier League in particular has seen a host of foreign takeovers in recent years, from the US Glazer family at Manchester United, Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, and former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra at Manchester City.
   Thaksin in particular has been criticised for his poor human rights record as Prime Minister of Thailand.
   ‘I have the impression... that the money from these guys is always welcome, the guy
   himself maybe not,’ Rummenigge said.
   ‘I would say it is really up to English football to decide how to go ahead with these matters It’s not possible for ECA to decide,’ he said.

Half of England’s leading players would consider quitting international cricket early to play in the lucrative Indian Premier League, according to a recent survey.
   A poll by the Professional Cricketers’ Association said that 50 per cent of current England internationals would consider premature retirement from the highest form of the game.
   The survey comes at a time where Twenty20 is spawning an extraordinary cash influx into the game with Allen Stanford prepared to offer a million dollars a man to members of the winning side in a one-off clash between England and his Caribbean All Stars in November.
   His move followed the creation of the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League and its rival Twenty20 event, the officially backed Indian Premier League both of which offer players the chance to earn big money in a relatively short space of time.
   More recently a new 10-million dollar Champions League featuring leading domestic sides from around the world was also announced.

The president and the members of the Bangladesh Cricket Board extended condolence and deepest sympathy to the family members of Jalal Ahmed Chowdhury, member of the cricket operations committee of the BCB and former national coach at the death of his mother Razia Rahman Chowdhury. Razia died in Dhaka on Thursday. Cricket committee of Dhaka Metropolis also condoled her death.

Vienna was the setting for Graham Greene’s post Second World War classic The Third Man but at Euro 2008 it’s not Harry Lime but Turkey’s three keepers that are providing all the suspense.
   Turkey’s charmed journey at Euro 2008 has attracted its fair share of drama, much of it surrounding Fatih Terim’s stoppers.
   The shock semi-finalists first had their number one stopper banned for two matches, then his replacement was plunged into a penalty shoot-out, whilst the number three is set to come on as an outfield player to fill a hole left by a wave of bans and injuries.
   Turkey were told late Monday that their appeal over Volkan Demirel’s two match ban for pushing over Czech striker Jan Koller had been rejected, leaving Recber Rustu to once again stand in for today’s semi-final with Germany.
   Demirel, a colossus at 1.91m and 92kg, was sent off in the dying minutes of Turkey’s 3-2 comeback win over the Czech Republic in their last group game.
   That opened the door for Rustu to make his Euro 2008 debut in the quarter-final against Croatia, and, in a baptism of fire the pony-tailed keeper found himself coping with a spot-kick shoot-out.
   The 35-year-old, dethroned at Fenerbahce by Demirel with Rustu switching clubs in 2007, will never forget his 117th cap.
   He earned his nation’s gratitude when stopping the penalty from Mladen Petric for Croatia’s final penalty.
   That made up for the Besiktas star’s lapse when his glaring error handed Croatia what looked like being the winning goal in the last eight clash.
   The veteran of Turkey’s 2002 World Cup semi-final team’s life was shaken up back in 1993 when he was the victim of a road accident in which he suffered serious injury and in which he lost a close acquaintance.
   On the pitch his career has been far from smooth, with a below par season in 2003/04 with Barcelona before moving on to Fenerbahce.
   Turkey’s third choice keeper has made the headlines too.
   With nine of his players either suspended or injured Terim has raised the unusual possibility of bringing on Tolga Zengin as an outfield player against Germany.
   If that’s the case the 24-year-old will have a third cap like he’d never expected.
   ‘He could come on towards the end as a sub as last man (in defence) or a centre forward,’ Terim said.
   ‘We can’t allow ourselves the luxury of players choosing where they want to play.’
   Should Turkey see off Germany then Volkan is expected to resume his place for the final against Spain or Russia.

Germany coach Joachim Low says he knows all about the passion and never-say-die spirit of Turkey ahead of today’s Euro 2008 semi-final from his year spent coaching Fenerbahce.
   The 48-year-old spent a year coaching the Turkish giants in Istanbul’s Fenerbahce district and says he expects 100 per cent commitment from the depleted Turks.
   Despite having nine players injured or suspended for Wednesday’s semi-final at Basel’s St Jakob-Park Stadium, Low says he is taking nothing for granted from Fatih Terim’s side who have made last-gasp wins their speciality here.
   ‘We know some of their players are injured, but those who come in will give their all to compensate,’ said Low as Turkey claimed the scalps of Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Croatia en route to the semi-final. ‘When I lived in Turkey at Fenerbahce, it was my third year as coach and I benefited enormously from the experience.
   ‘Turkey belongs to my most cherished learning experiences.
   ‘Turkish supporters are so passionate, to support a team is a huge priority for their fans, it is unique and I really learned from that.
   ‘The hospitality was incredible.
   ‘They are warm people, even those who were not the richest or who knew me only from seeing me on television would invite my family and I for dinner.
   ‘Wherever I went, I was welcomed with open arms.’
   And with 500,000 Turkish fans expected to watch the game on giant screens at Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate in the German capital today, Low is hoping the semi-final will pass off peacefully back home. There will be intense interest in Germany - from both sets of fans. Turkish workers made up the bulk of Gastarbeiter - literally guest workers - who helped drive Germany’s economic recovery after World War II and there are around 2.5 million Turks living in Germany.
   And Low is hoping there will be no trouble on German streets when one of the teams makes their Euro 2008 exit.
   ‘I dearly wish for this match to pass without incident,’ said Low.
   ‘I hope there is no provocation from the fans of either side.’
   In 17 matches between the teams since 1951, Germany have won 11 of the clashes, and reached the semi-finals with a 3-2 win over Portugal in the quarter-finals.
   Turkey, who reached the 2002 World Cup semi-finals, needed a goal right at the end of extra-time to take their last eight clash against Croatia to penalties and won the shoot-out 3-1.

It may be two years too late but the feeling that Italy need a revolution rather than an evolution has possibly never been greater.
   When Italy and France lined up at the World Cup final in Berlin two years ago both teams had essentially reached the end of the line.
   It should have been a last swansong for both but in the ensuing two years both Raymond Domenech and Roberto Donadoni, who had replaced World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi, opted instead to stick to the tried and tested.
   That has proved to be a mistake in both cases with the World Cup finalists both lacking energy and vitality here at Euro 2008.
   France’s group stage elimination hit home clearly and the international retirements of Claude Makelele and Liliam Thuram will not meet the resistance they did two years ago.
   For Italy, too, it is probably time to think to the long-term future and cease to rely on battle-weary legs.
   Donadoni had seemed to be heading towards revitalising the squad in his early days but by the time this tournament came around, he had packed it with players in or approaching their mid-30s, such as captain Fabio Cannavaro, defenders Christian Panucci and Marco Materazzi and forward Alessandro Del Piero.
   Cannavaro got injured but the others failed to inspire a team that obviously under-performed given they are world champions.
   Surely now Materazzi, Panucci and Del Piero will be confined to the international scrap-heap and while Cannavaro is still a great defender, he will be approaching 37 by the time of the next World Cup in South Africa.
   The Italy squad clearly needs an overhaul but maybe the answers lie within the non-playing members of this squad.
   Marco Boriello, who didn’t play a single minute in Austria and Switzerland, played at mid-table Genoa last season but finished third in the scoring charts.
   He is almost certain to be wearing the shirt of AC Milan next season and regular exposure to Champions League football and playing alongside the likes of Kaka and Andrea Pirlo could see him develop into a top class goalscorer.
   In midfield great things have long been expected of AS Roma’s Alberto Aquilani and due to the suspensions to Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso against Spain, he got the nod from the start.
   The problem with Aquilani is that he struggles to hold down a first team place at Roma and without playing regularly from the start for his club, he is unlikely to be able to answer the prayers of his national team.
   Looking outside of the Euro 2008 squad, another new face could well be that of Brazilian Amauri. He has played most of his career in Italy and made a big impression last season at Palermo. He is also due to be granted Italian citizenship.
   He has now secured a move to Juventus where Champions League football awaits and the hope is that he will provide a more agile, creative and talented targetman than Bayern Munich’s Luca Toni, one of Italy’s biggest flops here.
   At the back, Juventus centre-half Giorgio Chiellini grew into his role having been ommitted from Italy’s first match and he was clearly their best player against Spain - he could become the new Cannavaro.
   Then there is Fiorentina attacking pair Giampaolo Pazzini and Riccardo Montolivo, both set to be unleashed on the Champions League next season having starred for their team this last campaign but been left out of Italy’s squad.
   Coming up behind them are teenagers Mario Balotelli of Inter Milan and Alberto Paloschi of AC Milan or even Empoli’s 21-year-old attacking midfielder Sebastian Giovinco, set to star for his country at August’s Olympic Games in Beijing before joining Juventus.
   If half of these fulfil their undoubted promise and potential, a bright future for Italian football might quickly confine these bleak moments to distant memory.

Up to half a million football fans are expected to descend on the Brandenburg Gate here today to watch the Euro 2008 quarter-final between Germany and Turkey.
   The clash promises to be a high octane encounter as Berlin possesses one of the largest Turkish communities, 120,000, in a country where 2.4million people either is Turkish-born or of Turkish origin.
   The area for a kilometre round the Brandenburg
   Gate is set to be closed to
   traffic so that all and sundry can enjoy the match for which Germany will start odds-on favourites.
   ‘This will be football of an Extra Extra Large variety, with a huge party,’ said Willy Kautsch, one of the organisers of the event.
   ‘We are capable of welcoming 500,000 spectators and that is the number that we are expecting on Wednesday evening for the Turkish match.’
   The organisers are setting up three giant screens, including one of 80 square metres, believed to be the biggest in Europe.
   Should Germany go on to lift the trophy on Sunday - their first piece of silverware since Euro ‘96 - they will celebrate their victory at the same site - just as they did when they were third in the 2006 World Cup finals.
   ‘Berlin is in our hearts,’ gushed German coach Joachim Low last weekend.
   The Brandenburg Gate was at the heart of the ‘Fan Mile’ during Germany’s extremely successful hosting of the 2006 World Cup finals.
   Aside from the Berlin arrangements certain German businesses such as Porsche, Opel and Alstom have shortened their employees hours because of the match.
   The Porsche factory in Zuffenhausen, near Stuttgart, have told 1,000 employees that they can leave the factory an hour earlier than usual so that they don’t miss the start of the match.
   Daimler have given permission to their employees to follow the match at their assembly plant.

Spanish midfielder Xavi Hernandez on Tuesday warned Euro 2008 semi-final opponents Russia he and his compatriots were out ‘to make history’ as they target a first title since 1964.
   After repeatedly falling at the quarter-final stage of major tournaments the Spanish finally broke their hoodoo with Sunday’s penalty shootout success over Italy and Barcelona star Xavi says a place in the last four has not sated the team’s desire for more.
   ‘I am very happy as we have already taken a big step towards making history. But we still aren’t there yet. We want to get to the final and win it - and this team is ready to do so,’ insisted the midfield star.
   ‘We are not going to lose our (playing) philosophy against the Russians. We will keep on playing an attacking game. Possession will be the key,’ he indicated.
   That will make Xavi himself a key man as he vys with Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas for the role of playmaker. So far, coach Luis Aragones has begun with Xavi and preferred to see Cesc as an option to bring into the fray later from the bench.
   After seeing off the sterile Italians in the lottery of a shootout Xavi says the Furia Roja are determined to show their way of doing things is the only way forward
   ‘We have believed in our style of play, our philosophy, since the start and in our coach. We were fortunate to win on penalties against Italy but we were looking for that bit of luck and we got it,’ said Xavi, while warning he did not expect a repeat of the 4-1 group win over the Russians.
   ‘Now, they have more confidence and their self-esteem is on the rise, beating oopoents who were favourites to do well in the Euros. The rival we will now face will not be the same one we faced in the opening game. Their morale is on the up.
   ‘Against them we had a little luck in going 2-0 ahead and then we made use of the counter-attack.
   ‘This one will now be more difficult, firstly, because it is a semi-final after all. We must get ourselves mentally ready for reaching the final and not just content ourselves with having finally got past the quarters.’
   Xavi has already experienced some glory at international level - he was on the Under20 team which won the world championships in Nigeria in 1999 and he also picked up an Olympic silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
   Looking at how the Russians have bounced back from their opening loss Xavi notes: ‘The physical factor is very important for them. That’s what brought them through against Holland above all in extra-time, when the Dutch were tired and the Russians very fresh. But we’re physically in good shape too,’ he warned Guus Hiddink’s side.
   Xavi also insisted that the Spanish should not obsess too much about the brilliant form of Andre Arshavin, who has been instrumental in the Russian turnaround.
   ‘I think people are talking too much about Arshavin whereas it’s the Russians as a whole unit who count for more. They have players we know about, such as (midfielder Yuri) Zhirkov and (striker Roman) Pavlyuchenko. In order to stop them doihng any damage we must ensure they don’t see much of the ball.’
   Now Xavi thinks Spain’s 44 years of hurt - a drought even worse, though only just - than that of England can finally come to an end and they can lift the trophy.
   ‘I think many things have changed with the Spanish - this year the quarter-final penalties went in for example,’ he noted, whereas on three previous occasions June 22 shootouts had proved fatal.
   ‘We have had a little luck - but history owes us!’

Luis Aragones said on Monday that he would not go back on his decision to retire as Spain coach after Euro 2008 despite having guided them to their first semi-final in 24 years.
   The 69-year-old said he was touched by those supporters, who had brandished banners saying ‘Aragones stay’, during the quarter-final victory over Italy—the Spanish ended an 88-year victory drought over the Italians in competitive matches with their 4-2 penalty shootout win, after the match ended 0-0.
   ‘I thank all of those people who have addressed words of encouragement or compliments,’ said Aragones. ‘But the Federation know already that this adventure is ending for me, whatever happens to Spain here.
   ‘I am not even asking myself whether the federation would propose something or not.
   ‘I am proud of the results of my team and the fact that I am leaving behind a group of players who give their all on the pitch and within the group there is a good atmosphere. That will be a good mark on my CV,’ added the coach known as ‘The Wise Man of Hortoleza’.
   Spain, who reached the Euro ‘84 semi-final but lost to hosts France, take on Russia in their semi-final in Vienna on Thursday.
   Aragones added that Russia were the strongest team physically of the four semi-finalists. ‘It (Russia) is the strongest team in a physical sense of the four semi-finalists.

Samir Nasri’s agent has denied claims made by the Olympique Marseille midfielder that he has agreed a four-year deal with English Premier League side Arsenal. ‘Discussions are continuing between the two clubs and the player,’ Jean-Pierre Bernes was quoted as saying on Tuesday by the Web site of sports daily L’Equipe (www.lequipe.fr). ‘Nothing has been finalised, no element of the transfer has been finalised and everybody is still talking.
   It is premature to announce anything at all,’ he added. On Monday, France international Nasri announced on his personal Web site that he had signed a four-year contract with Arsenal for a fee of 16.8 million euros ($26.09 million).
   ‘We inform you that Samir will no longer be an Olympique Marseille player next season and that he has signed a four-year contract with London club Arsenal,’ said a statement on www.samirnasri.fr. The Web site has been unavailable since. The 20-year-old Nasri has 12 international caps and was a member of the French team which bowed out of Euro 2008 last week after finishing bottom of their group. He made two appearances during the tournament, both as a substitute.

Spanish coach Luis Aragones will have to grin and bear it as Spain must wear their golden-yellow away strip in Thursday’s Euro 2008 semi-final against Russia.
   The Spanish beat the Russians 4-1 in their opening group game clad in their usual red and blue with their rivals wearing white - but second time round the Russians get their first choice red colours.
   The problem for the superstitious Aragones is that he detests yellow and once demanded that Raul, whom he dropped from this summer’s squad, go and change after the Real Madrid man once joined up with the team at the 2006 World Cup wearing a yellow t-shirt.
   Nonetheless, the Spanish did beat France in a February friendly wearing the kit and now hope they have a generation of stars ‘golden’ enough to land their first trophy since Euro 64.
   Brazilian-born midfielder Marcos Senna plays week in week out in La Liga in yellow with Villarreal and doesn’t mind at all.
   ‘Suits me fine,’ he told reporters, as Aragones kept his counsel.

Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has dismissed talk that the Spanish champions would be willing to pay 100 million euros (155 million dollars) to sign Manchester United’s Portuguese playmaker Cristiano Ronaldo.
   ‘Real Madrid will never pay 100 million euros for anybody,’ Spanish sports daily Marca quoted him as saying at a sports even in Madrid on Monday night.
   Calderon’s comments come just two days after Real’s German coach Bernd Schuster said the club would be willing to pay that amount to secure the services of the 23-year-old winger.
   ‘For such a player we will pay what is necessary because what counts for us is to win the Champions League,’ he told German TV station DSF.
   Marca, citing unnamed Real officials, said the Spanish club had an offer of 85 million euros in the works for Ronaldo which it will partially finance with the sale of its Brazilian atttacker Robinho to Chelsea.
   Real hope to officially unveil Ronaldo on July 7 at its Santiago Bernabeu stadium at an even where it expects to draw 60,000 people, it added.
   The club will only unveil the player after FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta’s confidence vote on July 6 which was requested by two supporters who were angered by the Catalan side’s poor performance last season so as to not embarass him, Marca reported.
   ‘Real Madrid is a gentleman and does not want in any way to hurt Barcelona,’ a Real official told Marca.
   Manchester United have repeatedly said the player - whose contract runs until 2012 - is definitely not for sale.
   United earlier this month reported nine-time European champions Real to UEFA for trying to unsettle their prize asset, currently on a 120,000 pounds-a-week contract but who could see that sum double if he switched to the Bernabeu.

Spaniards Alvaro Arbeloa and Xavi Hernandez on Tuesday mused on the possible arrival in La Liga of Manchester United’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo, saying it would be good for Spanish football if he fulfilled his Real Madrid dream.
   Arbeloa, who moved to English Premiership side Liverpool from Deportivo La Coruna 18 months ago, joked it would help his current team if Ronaldo left United.
   ‘If Cristiano Ronaldo left it would be great. I hope he goes. I hope they (Real Madrid) make an effort,’ Arbeloa joked.
   Xavi, who plays for Barcelona, would find Ronaldo a major Liga title rival were the Portuguese to end up at the Bernabeu but said it would be good entertainment value.
   ‘We’d gain as regards the spectacle. It’s always good to have this kind of player in La Liga,’ he told reporters at Spain’s Austrian camp of Neustift.

Germany captain Michael Ballack says he expects a ‘hell’ of a battle in today’s Euro 2008 semi-final against Turkey with a place in the final at stake.
   Germany are over-whelming favourites to book their place in Sunday’s final in Vienna, especially as Turkey have just 13 available out-field players, with nine of their squad suspended or injured.
   But Fatih Terim’s side have earned their reputation as come-back kings after eliminating co-hosts Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Croatia on route to Basel’s semi-final and Ballack played down Germany’s tag as favourites.
   ‘Turkey have shown a never-say-die attitude, their ability to adapt and keep fighting is well known,’ said Ballack.
   ‘We expect a hell of an opponent, so there is no real favourite here.
   ‘They have eliminated a Croatia team we lost to, they also took out Czech Republic and Swiss.
   ‘There is no need to be in fear of Turkey, but at the same time over-confidence would also be dangerous.’
   Having been guilty of complacency in their shock 2-1 defeat by Croatia in the group
   stage, Ballack went to great lengths to stress how focused the Germans.
   ‘We underestimate no one, yet it is a question we are often asked about in the squad,’ said Ballack.
   ‘We had a bad performance against Croatia, that had nothing to do with an under-estimation, we just lacked an inner motivation, it was just an off day.
   ‘In terms of football, I can’t promise you flair, but in attitude we will give our all, I can promise you that.
   ‘Turkey will man-mark and be much more defensively orientated and try and hit us on the counter.
   ‘We will probably be superior in possession, but you never know.’
   While Germany coach Joachim Low has yet to decide whether he will play a traditional 4-4-2 formation or the 4-5-1 tactic which saw Germany beat Portugal 3-2 in the quarter-finals, a question mark also hangs over Torsten Frings.
   The midfielder is suffering from a fractured rib injury he picked up in the 1-0 win over Austria, yet Ballack insisted Germany’s holding midfielder is fit and ready to go.
   ‘Torsten is fit again, he has trained with us in the last two sessions and has reported back in, he has no more pain and it’s not a risk if he wants to play,’ said Ballack.
   ‘We have trained flexibly, it’s not hard to change the formations, we know 4-4-2, we weren’t that used to 4-5-1, but it worked out well.
   ‘We are in a semi-final, we have to be a big cagey about giving a few secrets away.’

A look at the likely formations, strengths and weaknesses of Germany and Turkey who meet in the semi-final of Euro 2008 at St Jakob Park today.
   
   Formations
   Germany coach Joachim Low, back on the bench after his one match banishment to the stands by UEFA, will have to decide whether to stick with the 4-5-1 formation he used against Portugal, or revert to his favoured 4-4-2.
   Playing five in midfield meant he could give a much freer role to Michael Ballack, who was devastating in attack. Low must be tempted to stick with the same strategy.
   Turkey coach Fatih Terim’s hand will be forced by what players he has available, but is likely to also play 4-4-2 although who fills those positions is the subject of some conjecture because he has so many injuries and suspensions to deal with.
   
   Strengths
   Germany clearly have strengths in every department, but their biggest attribute today may well be in their heads.
   The Germans grow up believing they will reach the later stages, if not the final, of every
   competition they enter, and are also bound to feel confident playing against a Turkish team severely depleted by absent personnel.
   Turkey, though, have proved a mental strength and resilience better than anyone else here. Terim’s team have trailed to Switzerland, Czech Republic and Croatia before triumphing and their never-say-die attitude could again be vital.
   
   Weaknesses
   If Germany take a weakness into this match it is likely to be that of over-confidence.
   The centre of defence also remains porous.
   Turkey have been severely weakened by the absences of key players like captain Nihat Kahveci because of injury and Tuncay Sanli who is suspended. Terim could go into the game with only 13 fit or eligible players, including third choice goalkeeper Tolga Zengin.
   
   Defence
   Central defenders Per Mertesacker and Christoph Metzelder have played over 80 times between them for Germany but still look some way short of international
   class, although the wide
   defenders Arne Friedrich and Philipp Lahm have done well here and restricted Cristiano Ronaldo’s influence in the quarter-final.
   The Turkey defence is in some disarray with goalkeeper Volkan Demirel suspended, pending a UEFA appeal, and defenders Emre Gungor (injured) and Emre Asik (suspended) while Servet Cetin is doubtful with a knee injury.
   
   Midfield
   Ballack’s role in the midfield is likely to determine the outcome, which could well go in Germany’s favour.
   The absence of the suspended Tuncay Sanli and Arda Turan will severely harm Turkey’s chances, although Mehmet Topal has impressed when given the chance. Emre Belozoglu, sidelined with a hamstring injury, has resumed training and could be forced back into action as Turkey’s situation is so desperate.
   
   Attack
   The form of Lukas Podolski, who has scored three goals in the tournament, and Bastian Schweinsteiger, who got the first goal against Portugal after returning from suspension, are likely to tip the balance Germany’s way in attack—especially if Ballack is given licence to get forward again.
   Turkey will miss captain Nihat Kahveci up front,
   but Semih Senturk is a
   very good marksman even
   if the majority of his goals
   come when he arrives as a substitute.

Hamit Altintop is using insider information to help Turkey plot Germany’s downfall in today’s Euro 2008 semi-final.
   The Gelsenkirchen-born Altintop has been busy giving the lowdown on his Bayern Munich colleagues Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Philipp Lahm, Marcell Jansen and Bastian Schweinsteiger in the German side facing the Turks in Basel.
   ‘There are five Bayern players in the German side and we’re always talking about them with Hamit and he’ll continue to give information to us about them,’ said Semih Senturk on Monday.
   Senturk played a pivotal role in getting Turkey to their first ever semi-final at a European championships, his goal in the dying seconds of extra time setting up the victorious penalty shoot against Croatia. He reckoned that appearing in the last four would provide him and his teammates with more self-confidence for the date with Die Mannschaft.
   Senturk reflected on Turkey’s injury and suspension crisis - no fewer than nine of the 23 are out of commission, with four players banned and five unfit.
   ‘To have lots of injuries and bans is hard on us and there are likely to be lots of changes on Wednesday but the replacements will be doing their utmost to help us get to the final.’
   Defender Gokhan Zan, appearing alongside Senturk at the press conference, chipped in with a smile: ‘If we make it to the final we might be hard pushed to field 11 players!’
   Senturk, who said the memory of the priceless goal he netted against Croatia last Friday would stay with him for the rest of his life, shed light on the role played by Fatih Terim in Turkey’s roller coaster passage in this Euro.
   ‘Fatih treats every player like he’s their father, he takes care of us all. I can say both tactically and in terms of motivation he’s the best coach I’ve ever worked with.’
   Despite their magnificent coomebacks where late goals have snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat against Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Croatia, Senturk conceded Germany would be favourites in Basel.
   ‘But that doesn’t worry us,’ the forward said. ‘All it does is motivate us on a different level. Germany are highly-disciplined and strong but we have a determined side and hope to achieve another win.’
   Zan felt that having made it this far in the competition a burden of expectation had been lifted.
   ‘Until we reached the semi-finals we had stress on us, now we’re rid of that and that’s going to have a positive effect on us.’
   Looking back on Turkey’s unexpected (at least to outsiders) progress at Euro 2008 the Besiktas fullback commented: ‘After qualifying for the championships our first target was to advance from the group stages.
   ‘Then after defeating Croatia in the quarters we are up against a high class side in Germany, this is the last step on the way to the final. We want more success now, and we’re not afraid of anyone, even if we have all those injuries and suspensions.’
   Turkey are without the banned quartet of keeper Volkan Demirel, Tuncay Sanli, Arda Turan who scored the last gasp winner against the Swiss, and Emre Asik.
   The five players missing due to injury are striker Nihat Kahveci, who has returned to Spain for treatment on a thigh problem picked up against the Croats and whose place will be filled by Senturk, Emre Gungor, Servet Cetin, Tumer Metin and skipper Emre Belozoglu.
   Turkey leave their base in Vienna midday Tuesday for Basel and final preparations ahead of a match that is being billed as one of the biggest in their history.

Football-crazy Germany is lapping up this month’s European Championships but with a three-million Turkish minority, the country, it seems, has two national teams—who face off today.
   And suspense is building. Germany and Turkey have never played each other in the quarter-finals of a major international football championships, let alone clashed for a place in the final of one as they will this week.
   From Moenchengladbach to Munich and Braunschweig to Bonn, cars, buildings and people are festooned not only with the German black, gold and red but also with the Turkish crescent and star. Each victory—most recently Germany’s emphatic win over pre-tournament favourites Portugal and Turkey’s nail-biting penalty shootout triumph over Croatia—has been followed by triumphant parties, with cars horns beeping and fireworks exploding late into the night.
   As the teams and fans psych themselves up for today’s game in Switzerland, back home it’s not just about sport.
   Germany’s Turks have proudly failed the so-called ‘Tebbit test’—named after former British minister Norman Tebbitt who suggested in the 1980s that immigrants to England should support the English team and not their country of origin.
   But many won’t even support Germany no matter who it plays against, saying they feel unwelcome in their host country.
   ‘Listen, there is no work for foreigners in Germany. Foreigners don’t have a lot of good things to say about Germans,’ says one kebab shop owner in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, the city’s ‘Little Istanbul’, who declined to give his name.
   ‘If there’s a job advert in the paper and I ring up and say ‘my name is Ali,’ they tell you the job’s gone. But when someone rings up and says ‘my name is Hans,’ they say come and see me,’ said the 40 year-old, who has lived in Germany since he was a child.
   ‘If you experience that then you’re not going to support Germany ... I’ve got German flags on the front of the shop but that’s just for business reasons, so that Germans come.’
   The figures bear out his frustrations. More than half the Turks in Germany feel unwelcome—
   A survey published by weekly Die Zeit in March showed than more than half of residents of Turkish origin feel unwelcome in Germany.
   According to government figures, nearly one in five young people without German nationality—which many second and third generation Turks do not have—leave school without any qualifications.
   Less than one in 10 completes the Abitur—the secondary school-leaving certificate similar to A-levels in Britain or the baccalaureat in France—and the risk of unemployment is twice as high.
   And official data show that while 24 percent of residents people in Germany are at risk of falling below the poverty line, the figure for those of Turkish origin is a staggering 42.5 percent, according to the Essen-based Centre for Studies on Turkey,
   ‘Educational success in Germany depends on ethnic and social background,’ junior immigration minister Maria Boehmer conceded this month.
   Friedrich Heckmann, sociology professor for the European Forum for Migration Studies at Bamberg University, links Turkish reluctance to support the national team to Germany’s former, longtime ‘Gastarbeiter’ policy—when migrants were allowed in to fill labour shortages but ‘would soon go home’.
   ‘The large majority of migrants are not ready to identify with their national context, although they are at the local level,’ Heckmann told AFP. ‘Studies show that only around 10 percent, even among second generation migrants, would identify with Germany.’
   The government is making a big show of tackling the issue, aiming to quell both social problems fueled by the lack of equal opportunities in education and the labour market and to head off any extremist drift by disaffected young Muslims, the principle religion among Turks.
   Conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel has personally taken charge of a nationwide integration plan. It involves language and integration classes as well as measures to improve the situation in schools and the workplace and to promote political involvement.
   The alienation—even among some third and fourth generation Turks—is not helped by the fact that very few of their kinsmen have played for Germany. The current team has several Polish-born players but none of Turkish origin.
   Here, too, Germany is taking steps, with the national football federation becoming more proactive in urging young players from immigrant families to take German citizenship.
   But some critics say the motivation here may be more to poach sporting talent rather than promote integration. The last time Germany played Turkey, they lost.