Abahani and City Club will fight for the title of the Premier Division Twenty20 Cricket League at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium at Mirpur today. BTV will telecast the match live from 1:30pm. The third-place play-off between Victoria and Surjo Tarun will also be held at the same venue at 9:30am.
   Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has allowed the clubs to include the pool-players who have not played in any Twenty20 matches this season but restricted the number of pool players to three per team. As Abahani already have Shahriar Nafees, Md.Rafique and Tushar Imran they will not take any other player.
   City Club have intended to induct Mohammedan’s national batsman Aftab Ahmed, spinner Abdur Razzak and Junaed Siddiuqe. Aftab and Razzak are national pool players. However, the club will be needed to get the clearance from both Mohammedan and the BCB.
   Abahani will be boosted by the return of their national star Shahriar Nafees. Veteran Md Rafique and skipper Tushar Imran are their other two national pool players. National upper-order Nazimuddin will be eager to continue his onslaught in the shortest version of the game.
   Overall Abahani are a balanced side in every department of the game. Opener Jahurul Islam is in fine form as he hit 107 in the last league match against Partex. Pacers Talha Jubaer and Ziaur Rahman have maintained their consistency in the league and all-rounder Nadif Chowdhury also is a reliable player.
   City Club will be relying on the explosive batting of Pakistani batsman Zahoor Elahi and Imran Ahmed who had been scoring runs in the premier league. Shafaq al Zabir and Arafat Salahuddin are their leading bowlers.

England (342 & and 277/9) lead New Zealand (198) by 421 runs at stumps, day 3
   England held a near impregnable lead of 421 runs in the second cricket Test against New Zealand as they reached 277 for nine at stumps on the third day here Saturday.
   The margin is already ahead of the current record winning fourth innings total in the history of Test cricket of 418.
   When Paul Collingwood fell in the final over of the day, England did not immediately declare, indicating they want to milk the fourth morning for as many more runs as possible before the last wicket falls.
   Collingwood, who posted his second half-century of the match reaching 59 before he went leg before wicket to Mark Gillespie, has been central to England’s bid to even the series after New Zealand won the first Test.
   He scored 65 in the first innings where he featured in a telling 164-run stand for the sixth wicket with Tim Ambrose in what has become the match-turning partnership.
   Apart from Ambrose’s first innings century the England batsmen have largely failed to build scores of substance.
   Alastair Cook’s 60, 44 from Andrew Strauss and 41 from Ian Bell were the only other notable performances in the second innings. Marquee batsman Kevin Pietersen, who has had a lean tour of New Zealand, had reason to feel his luck had changed when on 10 umpire Rudi Koertzen turned down a close lbw appeal by Daniel Vettori.
   Television replays suggested he was plumb in front, but it was short-lived relief as Pietersen only reached 17 before he was run out.
   New Zealand fast bowler Chris Martin managed to get a finger tip to a return drive from Ian Bell and deflected the ball onto the stumps catching Pietersen out of his ground.
   Had the New Zealand fielding been sharper the England total could have been much less.
   Collingwood was on nought when he was dropped by Gillespie off Daniel Vettori, and the ball bounced off Gillespie’s arm and rolled over the boundary for four.
   In the following over Mathew Sinclair dropped a difficult chance from Bell on nine.
   England, who had a 144-run lead on the first innings, started the day at four without loss in their second stand and went though to lunch with the solitary loss of Michael Vaughan for 13.
   Cook, who was dropped by McCullum on five before hitting the first six of his 26-Test career, put on 106 with Strauss for the second wicket before both were dismissed early in the afternoon session.
   Cook pushed forward to Kyle Mills and nicked the ball to Stephen Fleming at first slip and Strauss was bowled by Jacob Oram in the following over for four.
   Ambrose was unable to reproduce his first innings heroics and made five from 23 balls before he was bowled by Oram who finished the day with three for 44 off 20 overs.
   Gillespie, although the most expensive of the New Zealand bowlers at four runs an over, had figures of two for 52.

By the start of next week the great and the good from around the world assemble in Dubai for one of the most important meetings in the ICC’s 99-year existence. Not since the Packer Circus has the ICC’s executive board met against a backdrop of such upheaval in the structure of the world game. They not only have to select a chief executive, a potentially divisive task by itself, but have to confront a phenomenon that is threatening to rewrite the rules of game.
   The Indian Premier League, which has left several boards floundering helplessly against the tide of cash on offer to their players, has cast a palpable shadow over recent months. The big question is if a window will be carved out in the international calendar for the franchise-based tournament which now has its roster the cream of international talent. Indications are that this is unlikely to happen. It can be argued that the Future Tours Programme is flexible enough to allow it to accommodate the IPL. The real problem comes from the extra tournaments and one-day series the boards shoehorn into any gaps in the FTP, and that is down to them to address.
   What is likely to happen is that there will be an agreement that national duty will get priority over the IPL. The clear message that will send is that domestic competitions are secondary.
   As far as the ICL goes, the ICC has already made its position clear and the continuing ostracism of those associated with it will continue informally between the various boards. As with so many things, these issues will dominate the more informal gatherings in which so much is actually decided.
   The subject of Zimbabwe, the thorn in the ICC’s side that won’t go away, will again be raised. Almost two years after Zimbabwe Cricket started its own, largely discredited, forensic audit into accounts that many inside the country claim are seriously flawed, the ICC’s own independent auditors, KPMG, are set to present their own report.
   Even before the findings have been presented, the ICC finds itself in a no-win situation. It is certain that malpractices will be revealed – ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed himself pointed them out last June – but it is expected that ZC chairman Peter Chingoka will plead that Zimbabwe’s economy is in such a mess and the local currency so worthless, that nobody adheres to standard practices and every business does whatever is necessary to function.
   The ICC executive will have to decide whether to accept that argument. This is where politics comes into play. Chingoka has assiduously courted and received the backing of the Indian board in return for his support when push comes to vote. How strong that bond is, is likely to be tested to the full in Dubai, but it is predicted he will survive. The UK government is clearly suspicious, requesting a copy of the audit in advance because, as a Westminster source told Cricinfo, they suspect a potential cover-up and want to see what KPMG have to say for themselves.
   Assuming he lives to fight another day, Chingoka himself is also an issue as he is due in London in June for the ICC annual conference but the UK authorities, as things stand, have ruled him persona non grata and refused a visa. Behind-the-scenes meetings to try to get him into the UK have, so far, failed, and the executive will need to decide if they want to hold the meeting without one of their most senior members or move it abroad. Unless the government stands down, it is likely an alternative venue will be sought. That could raise warning signs about next year’s ICC World Twenty20 in England where even if Zimbabwe are allowed, Chingoka again might be turned away.
   As if that was not enough, Darrell Hair has almost completed the rehabilitation programme agreed with the ICC at the collapse of his racial discrimination tribunal in October. He remains in contract until March 2009 and at some stage the bullet will have to be bitten and a decision made what to do with him.
   If his rehabilitation has gone well then it becomes hard not to allow him back - by the ICC’s own admission he is a good decision-maker - but harder to see how several countries will permit it. A behind-the-scenes compromise seems the only way out.
   Recommendations made by the ICC’s chief executives committee last month will also be discussed, including the greater use of technology, with a
   possible ‘umpire decision review system’ which, if approved, could be trialled as early as this July when England meet South Africa at Lord’s. After the ructions in Australia during the visit of India, a zero-tolerance approach to inappropriate public comment and abusive behaviour by players, team officials and individual board members will be affirmed.
   The format for the 2011 World Cup will also be approved, but the horse-trading has long since finished and the recommendation of the host countries – a 14-team
   format with two initial groups of seven – certain to be rubber-stamped.

Jacob Oram, the New Zealand allrounder, has been fined 20 per cent of his match fee after being found guilty of dissent during the second Test against England in Wellington.
   Oram was hauled up for his reaction to being given out lbw to Ryan Sidebottom on the second day.
   After umpire Steve Davis raised the finger, Oram looked at his bat first and then followed up by punching it as he left the field.
   At the hearing, held after the third day’s play, Oram pleaded guilty to the charge and also apologised for any offence he may have caused the umpires. In reaching a decision Javagal Srinath, the match referee, took into account not only the apology but also the fact that it was Oram’s first appearance at a Code of Conduct hearing in seven years at international level.
   He was originally charged under clause 2.1 which refers to ‘showing serious dissent at an umpire’s decision’ but Srinath reduced this to a level 1.3 offence - ‘showing dissent at an umpire’s decision’ - following the hearing.
   ‘I took into account several factors in downgrading
   the charge,’ said Srinath, ‘including the player’s previously excellent conduct, his
   apology at the hearing, the fact it was a spontaneous act out of character with his normal behaviour and that he did not appear to use foul or offensive language.’
   ‘However, the fact remains that when the umpire raises his finger a player must leave the crease immediately and without question no matter what he may think of the decision.’
   For a level one breach the player has no right of appeal.

After the satisfaction of seeing his team on top of the ODI rankings, Graeme Smith had a personal milestone to celebrate as well, as he went past Sachin Tendulkar to take the No 1 spot in the ICC’s ODI rankings for batsmen.
   Smith began the three-match series against Bangladesh in third place, 24 points behind Tendulkar, but pushed him to second spot after scoring 199 and being dismissed just once in the three ODIs. In fact, Smith has been in glorious form in one-day internationals over the last seven months, scoring nine half-centuries and a hundred in his last 19 innings, for an average of 52.35.
   Tendulkar’s reign at the top thus lasted less than two weeks – he claimed the spot after leading India to victory in the CB Series – but Smith is likely to keep that spot for at least three months since both India and Australia aren’t scheduled to play ODIs before June.
   AB de Villiers was the other South African batsman who made significant progress, going up six places to a career-best No 9 after being the second-highest run-getter in the series with 109 runs.
   Among the bowlers, Andre Nel, who has been left out of the Test squad for the series against India, made the biggest improvement, going up ten places to No 6 after claiming seven wickets in the series.
   Bangladesh, though, had little to celebrate. Abdur Razzak moved up two spots to No 16 in the bowlers’ list, while Sakib al Hassan broke into the top 50 for batting, but Mohammad Ashraful, their captain, dropped eight places to 59.

The first death anniversary of former national cricketer Manjarul Islam Rana and Khulna divisional team captain Sajjadul Islam will be observed today. Both the players were killed in a road mishap on the Khulna-Satkhira highway near Baliakhali bridge under Dumuria upazila in Khulna district on March 16, 2007.
   As part of the day’s programmes the Khulna Zila Krira Sangstha, Khulna district unit of Bangladesh Sports Writers’ Association and the family members will place wreaths on their graves, hold separate discussion meetings and prayer sessions.
   On Saturday the members of the Khulna district unit of Bangladesh Sports Writers’ Association wore black badges and held a discussion meeting at the Khulna Zila Krira Sangstha auditorium. A minute’s silence was observed as a mark of respect to the deceased cricketers.
   Chaired by the Khulna BSWA president Kanak Rahman, the meeting was addressed by Khulna divisional Krira Sangstha general secretary Abu Saleq, DSA general secretary Quazi Shamim Ahsan, Rana’s elder brother Quazi Mazharul Islam Rony, journalist Mokbul Hossain Mintu, Koushik Dey Bapi, Mamun Reza and Sohrab Hossain.
   The speakers put forward a four-point demand including naming of a stand after Manjarul at the Khulna divisional stadium, a stand of the Khulna district stadium after Sajjadul, establishing a memorial in honour of the dead cricketers and allocation of a room at the divisional stadium to preserve the cricket gears used by them.

The Senior Division Hockey League Committee stuck to their previous decision of five-pool-players-per-team rejecting the appeal of the players to reconsider the decision at a meeting at the federation’s office on Saturday.
   The players had requested the committee to increase the number of pool players for each team to seven from five and it was hoped that the number will be six after the meeting of the league committee. But the committee did not change their earlier decision.
   The players will think about their next course of action today.

Narayanganj beat Cox’s Bazar 3-1 in the final round of the 4th Under-15 JFA Cup Football Championship at the Rajshahi Stadium on Saturday.
   Abu Taher (30th minute), Limon Chowdhury (59th minute) and Rabbani (63rd minute) scored for the winners while Mohiuddin netted the solitary goal for the losers.
   In another match, BKSP and Moulvibazar played out a goalless draw.

The Army Chief Moeen U Ahmed inaugurated a new golf course at Rangpur Cantonment on Saturday. He also released a book titled ‘Golf and Golf courses in Bangladesh’.
   The golf club began its journey in 1998. The number of club members is now 103.
   Of them, 64 are male, 21 female and 18 junior golfers. The new course is has been constructed on 25 acres of land. There were also many facilities at the club. They include a swimming pool for women and children, gymnasium, training complex, squash court, ladies club, library, canteen and cyber cafe.
   The club complex and golf course will be open to eligible persons of Rangpur and its adjourning areas. General Moeen is expected to open a shooting club at the Rangpur Cantonment today.

The Bangladesh Football Federation officials had to sit idle on the first day of the B league players’ transfer on Saturday as no club showed any interest to take part in it.
   The federation officials, however, continued their effort to convince the clubs to change their decision of boycotting the transfer window.
   ‘We are talking with the clubs and trying to make them understand the scenario. The players’ transfer will last for one month and we are hopeful of reaching a fruitful conclusion,’ said Monjur Hossain Malu, the acting general secretary of the BFF.
   Mostaqur Rahman, the additional general secretary of Dhaka Mohammedan SC, is willing to take part in the bourse but has got no answer to his questions.
   ‘At the moment all the clubs are struggling financially. Moreover, the election of the BFF certainly will have an impact on the transfer, we will sit on Monday to decide our next step, but I personally think the transfer should take place after the BFF election,’ said Mostaq.

Like so many times before, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova needed a tiebreaker to settle the score.
   Playing in an event called Dream Match 2008 before a sold-out crowd at Tokyo’s Ariake Stadium on Saturday, Graf defeated Navratilova eight games to seven after winning a tiebreaker 10-5.
   ‘It was great that it went to a tiebreaker,’ said Graf. ‘It was a lot of fun playing Martina again. It brought back so many memories.’
   In their first match in 14 years, Graf took a 6-3 lead only to see Navratilova battle back to tie the match 6-6 before forcing a tiebreaker.
   ‘It was almost a surreal experience,’ said Navratilova. ‘I felt like we went back in time. People always asked me who the toughest player to play against was and if it wasn’t Steffi, I don’t know who it was.’
   Before retiring, Graf and Navratilova met 18 times with each player winning nine matches. The last time the two greats met was in 1994 at the Toray Pan Pacific in Tokyo when Graf won 6-2, 6-4.
   After playing Navratilova, Graf went on to face Japan’s Kimiko Date but lost by a score of 6-2, 6-3.
   Date and Graf played a memorable Fed Cup match at the same venue in 1996, when Graf went ahead 5-1 in the first set but Date came back to win the set and the match 7-6 (7), 3-6, 12-10.
   ‘It’s so much fun to be back in this stadium,’ said Graf. ‘I have so many good memories of playing here and I hope the fans enjoyed today’s matches.’
   In an earlier match Saturday, Date beat Navratilova 8-6.

As the clock winds down to the ICC’s executive board meeting in Dubai, the selection of the next chief executive is developing into a potentially fractious matter with the Indian board backing the candidature of IS Bindra, its former president, who, the ICC secretariat is keen to point out, is over the specified age. In the event of Bindra failing to get the job, it is likely to go to Imtiaz Patel, a South African, who heads Supersport, the broadcast network.
   Dave Richardson, the ICC general manager, and Haroon Lorgat, the former chief selector of South Africa, are said to be the other names in the fray to replace Malcolm Speed.
   Bindra’s candidacy is viewed with some concern given that, once Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, takes over as ICC chairman in 2010 as scheduled, the top two positions in world cricket will soon be held by India.
   The BCCI has already faced a hurdle which it tried to sidestep. Pawar is learnt to have recently sent a letter to the ICC picking out holes in an ‘age rule’ that could hamper the chances of their candidate. The letter was apparently sent in response to a note from the ICC to all national boards pointing to the age bar prevalent in the UAE, where it is based.
   Pawar’s letter asks the ICC not to attach much value to the rule, which bars those above 65 from taking up employment in the country, because it refers only to a particular category of employees. ‘The rule refers only to a specific category of candidates, essentially government employees, and Bindra doesn’t fall in that group,’ a top source said. ‘Bindra is above that age limit but he is a veteran in these matters. He knows enough about the rules and regulations of the ICC and helped Pawar prepare the letter.’
   The chief executive will be selected by a four- person sub-committee comprising Ray Mali, the ICC chairman, David Morgan, the ECB head and Mali’s chosen successor, Creagh O’Connor, the Cricket Australia chairman and Pawar. Bindra has confirmed to Cricinfo that he was contacted by a head-hunting firm early this year regarding a shortlist.
   ‘A recruitment firm called Egon Zehnder International was appointed to source potential candidates and make recommendations to the four-person sub-committee. That process is complete,’ an ICC spokesperson told Cricinfo. ‘The sub-committee will make its recommendations to the ICC board and then it will discuss the matter at the meeting.’
   However, with Pawar slotted to take over as ICC chairman in 2010, after Morgan’s two years at the helm under a compromise formula reached last year, the other national boards are concerned that an all-India show may lead to a monopoly on world-cricket administration.
   Already, the WICB, which has supported India over various issues in the past, is learnt to have switched sides, leaving Bindra with the BCCI’s traditional support base of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
   But Bindra told Cricinfo that he would take a call on this issue only after he was offered the job.
   ‘Even if I am offered the job, I will have to take a call on whether I need to take it up or not.
   ‘I have certain issues to work out even if the job is offered, about my quitting the Punjab Cricket Association (he heads the association), my daughter’s education and other personal issues,’ Bindra said.
   If the BCCI is not able to get its way on Bindra, then Patel, a former director with the then United Cricket Board of South Africa, is likely to emerge as the candidate who will fit the bill. ‘The key criteria for selection: Whatever makes them the best person for the job,’ the ICC spokesperson said.

England’s ‘big four’ clubs will have a key role in the battle to stay in the Premier League as they juggle their domestic and Champions League commitments, according to Reading manager Steve Coppell.
   Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool - who’ve been paired together - have all qualified for the quarter-finals of European club football’s most prestigious competition.
   That leaves them contemplating resting players for matches against opponents at the foot of the table so as to keep their stars fresh for Europe.
   Reading are currently just three points above the relegation zone and Coppell, whose side face Liverpool on Saturday and Arsenal next month, said: ‘The bigger teams will have to rotate and all of them have real key individuals that make them exceptional - two or three players who, when they are removed, the team is not as effective.
   ‘So there could be occasions during the remaining weeks of the season when, in deference to a huge European tie, one of the big teams will give their key players a rest. Then it is a chink of daylight for the rest of us.’
   Meanwhile the former Manchester United and England wing rejected suggestions that having four teams in the last eight of the Champions League meant English clubs were ‘dominating’ Europe.
   He said for that to happen, Premier League clubs would have to win and retain the Champions League as happened when Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa meant only teams from England’s old First Division lifted the European Cup between 1977-1982. ‘Having so many clubs still in the competition is a sign of the huge success of the Premier League,’ said Coppell. ‘This is where it is at in terms of world football at the moment. It is attractive for everybody to watch and is successful on the European stage so far.
   ‘But I don’t think anyone can talk about a period of domination until we go back to the days when teams were winning it back-to-back.’

Marcus Trescothick pulled out of Somerset’s pre-season tour to Dubai after suffering a recurrence of the stress-related illness which has ruined his England career.
   Trescothick, 32, was expected to take part in Somerset’s pre-season tour to Dubai, where they will play the UAE national side, Lancashire, Essex, Sussex and Yorkshire for the Arabian Cricket Challenge.
   It would have been the opening batsman’s first overseas trip since flying home early from the 2006 Ashes tour because of stress.
   But instead he told Somerset he wouldn’t travel with them due to a recurrence of the problem which forced him home from England’s tour to India during the early part of 2006.
   ‘Marcus took the decision himself and the club are fully supportive,’ Somerset chief executive Richard Gould told the club’s official website.
   ‘He has returned home to Taunton to be with his family and we look forward to him playing a full part in our season.’
   Trescothick has played in 76 Tests, the last of which was against Pakistan at the Oval in August 2006. He has also made 123 one-day international appearances.
   But his international career has been put on hold since he was forced to leave Australia with the illness before the Ashes series had even started.
   England batsman Paul Collingwood admitted his former team-mate needed to
   forget about a return to international action until he is fully recovered.
   ‘It’s really sad. I think we need to just forget about the cricket and really we just want Marcus to get himself right,’ Collingwood said.
   ‘We need to forget about whether he’s going to play for England again or go away with Somerset. The important thing is to get himself right for his own sake and all of our thoughts go out to him.’

Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer has labelled the German giants’ UEFA Cup opponents Getafe as ‘nobodies’ with the sides set to meet in the quarter-finals next month.
   Bayern play the Spanish side at the Allianz Arena in the first-leg on April 3, but double World Cup winner Beckenbauer has already raised the stakes by saying the Spaniards are the underdogs.
   ‘Quite honestly: I don’t know anyone from Getafe,’ Beckenbauer is reported as saying on German agency SID.
   ‘And Michael Landrup is their coach? I didn’t know this.’
   But Beckenbauer, whose side beat Anderlecht 6-2 on aggregate in their last-16 tie, did praise the mid-table La Liga side for their performance in the competition so far having beaten Benfica 3-1 on aggregate.
   ‘We have to be on the ball against Getafe.’
   ‘Anyone who knocks out Benfica can’t be an easy team to beat.
   And Beckenbauer revealed he will contact Real Madrid’s German coach Bernd Schuster to pick up a few tips on Getafe before the home and away matches. ‘I will speak with Bernd,’ said Beckenbauer.
   ‘He will give us some information.’

Rangpur won the second match of the Second Sena Moitri Independence Day Gold Cup Football Tournament beating Lalmonirhat in the tiebreaker at Rangpur stadium on Saturday.
   They moved into the semi-finals. A total of 9 district teams and the army team of Rangpur region are taking part in the tournament.

England fast bowler James Anderson has thrown an injury scare into his team’s hopes of winning the second Test against New Zealand when he injured his left ankle playing football after the third day’s play on Saturday.
   Anderson, who took 5-73 to rip through New Zealand’s first innings on Friday, was seen walking with the aid of crutches as the team left the Basin Reserve.
   England were 277-9 at the close of play, a lead of 421, and will have almost two days to bowl New Zealand out and level the three Test series when play resumes on Sunday. An England team spokesman told reporters the 25-year-old had turned his left ankle during a game of football between members of the England team after the day’s play ended.
   Anderson had been receiving ice treatment to reduce the likelihood of swelling, but the spokesman said there were no plans to send him to hospital for scans.
   His condition would be reviewed on Sunday.
   Anderson is due to join Monty Panesar at the wicket when play resumes, though of more concern would be whether he can bowl after New Zealand struggled to handle his swing and seam in the first innings, when they were bowled out for 198.

Sri Lanka spinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi on Saturday was handed a four-year suspended jail sentence for driving carelessly and killing a woman pedestrian in 2003.
   Judge MNA Gaffoor also ordered the cricketer to pay a fine of 500,000 rupees (4,716 US dollars) that would go to two charities.
   Lokuarachchi, 25,
   pleaded guilty to killing the pedestrian and injuring her son in a late-night car crash in August 2003.
   The judge said the player would not have to serve time as he was ‘suspending’ the sentence for five years.
   If the offence is repeated within the next five years, the player would be jailed for the four-year term.
   The leg-spinner, who has played 21 one-day internationals and four Tests, was banned for four months by Sri Lanka Cricket on disciplinary grounds following the car crash.

Youngmen’s Club Fakirerpool beat Jatrabari KC 2-0 in a Metropolis Senior Division Football super six match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Saturday.
   Touhidul and Sakhawat scored one goal each for the winners.
   In the day’s other match, Agrani Bank KC defeated City Club 2-1 at the Kamlapur Stadium.
   Kazi Tutul struck twice for the winners while Mehdi Hasan netted for the losers.

FIFA will press ahead with controversial proposals to limit the number of foreign players available to clubs, president Sepp Blatter said on Friday.
   Under the so-called ‘6 plus 5’ system, Blatter wants club sides to field a minimum of six players eligible to represent the team’s home international side.
   Blatter, who has the full support of his executive committee for the proposals, said the idea would strengthen the identity of clubs and promote investment in developing young players.
   There are doubts, however, over whether the proposals contravene European laws forbidding restraint of trade on the grounds of nationality.
   ‘The executive committee has unanimously stated that 6 plus 5 is indeed a positive solution but, of course, we do not want to clash directly with existing laws,’ Blatter told a news conference at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters.
   He believes an exception could be made for sport in line with an agreement in the European Union’s new reform treaty.
   The Lisbon treaty, adopted by EU members in October 2007, makes explicit reference to the specific nature of sport but the precise areas to which that applies are still to be negotiated.
   Blatter said he would raise the issue again at a meeting with EU representatives in April.
   The FIFA president said the executive committee was less enamoured with a proposal by the English Premier League to stage an additional round of its league fixtures overseas.
   ‘There was a very strong response from the committee…that this idea does not work,’ Blatter said.
   Premier League officials were due to hold talks with FIFA last month but instead decided on ‘further consultation’ after strong domestic and international criticism. Summing up the rest of Friday’s executive committee meeting, Blatter called on clubs to ‘abide by the Olympic spirit’ and release players over 23 who want to play at the Beijing Games.
   Olympic soccer teams can use up to three ‘overage’ players although there is no obligation for clubs to release them.
   FIFA also said its ban on high altitude internationals will be maintained after the issue was discussed following a request by the South American football confederation.
   FIFA’s ruling states no international matches should be played above 2,750 metres from the sea level ‘without acclimatisation’.
   Blatter declined to comment on court claims linking a senior member of his organisation to alleged bribery payments.
   FIFA executive committee member Nicolas Leoz was on Tuesday named in a prosecution file listing payments from a secret bank account set up by FIFA’s former marketing partners ISL.
   ‘Let us wait and see what justice says and then we will have a look at that,’ Blatter told reporters. ‘It is a case in progress and it would be bad for me to intervene.’
   Leoz, who is also president of the South American Football Confederation, is not a defendant in the case and the confederation has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing on his part.
   The 79-year-old Paraguayan was absent from Friday’s FIFA executive committee meeting for medical reasons. Blatter also announced that the decision to scrap trials of goal-line technology had been given full backing by the world governing body’s football and technical committees.
   The International FA Board controversially decided last weekend to freeze any more experiments in favour of trialling a system put forward by UEFA president Michel Platini of having two extra assistant referees behind the goal-line.
   The Premier League was furious at the decision with chairman Sir Dave Richards accusing Platini at the meeting of ‘killing football’. The league had spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on developing the Hawkeye system.
   But Blatter said, ‘Both the football committee, chaired by Franz Beckenbauer, and the technical committee supported the International FA Board.
   ‘They said why should we resort to really complicated goal-line technology such as the microchip in the ball that works in 95 per cent of the cases but not 100 per cent reliability, or the famous Hawkeye which is appropriate for tennis as the players can stop the game to challenge the decision.’
   FIFA’s executive committee also unanimously opposed the Premier League’s plan for overseas matches.
   The Premier League unveiled proposals on February 7 to host a 39th-round of matches across five cities across the world from 2011.
   But the plan has received a hostile reception and was quickly rejected. ‘This idea to play a 39th round outside the country does not work,’ said FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
   ‘They would be playing 12 hours away west and east and 24 hours difference in the south.
   ‘Even the former chairman of the FA, Geoff Thompson, said we should oppose it.’
   The Premier League pulled out of a planned trip to see Blatter on February 28.
   A statement from the Premier League at the time said, ‘We will conduct further internal studies and consultation before seeking the advice of FIFA.’

Barcelona were paired with Schalke in the Champions League quarter-final draw, with the winners meeting Manchester United or Roma in the last four.
   Barca will first face the German outfit in Gelsenkirchen on April 1 before the return at the Nou Camp eight days later.
   The Spanish giants, winners in 2006, avoided four English clubs in the quarter-final draw – leaving director of football Txiki Begiristain relieved.
   He said, ‘It is true that they (the Premier League) have invested a lot of money in football and you can see also they are doing a great job.
   ‘Because of that there are now four teams here. They are the strongest (league) in the world.
   ‘The (English) style is very different. In Spain our style is very nice but it’s not so brilliant to watch a Spanish league game.
   ‘I believe that the Premier League is the strongest one.’
   Despite his obvious relief at avoiding one of the Premier League’s big guns, Begiristain refused to underestimate last-eight opponents Schalke, who dispatched 2004 champions Porto on penalties in the last round.
   He told Sky Sports News, ‘We have respect for Schalke as they beat Porto, who are a strong team. We have to be careful of that.’
   He added, ‘We are happy because in the second leg we play at home.
   ‘We have an attacking style, we try to make goals, but also we need to have balance. We have to be strong up front but also strong in defence.’
   Defender Lilian Thuram has warned his team-mates not to think they have got off lightly.
   He said, ‘It is dangerous to think that they are not a strong opponent.
   ‘They have experienced players and we will need to prove we are better than them on the pitch.
   ‘We must go out focused to be able to get through the tie. If Schalke have got this far it is because they deserve it.’
   Schalke president Josef Schnusenberg described his team’s chances of advancing as ‘very, very small’.
   Although Schnusenberg is excited at the prospect of coming up against the Catalan giants, he is not optimistic the Gelsenkirchen club will get through to a semi-final clash with either Manchester United or Roma.
   He said: ‘I think Barcelona is a good rival for us. I prefer Spanish football to English football so I’m happy, just as I’m sure my players are, to be going to the Nou Camp.
   ‘Barca have a great team and fantastic players like Ronaldinho and (Lionel) Messi.
   ‘I think our chances are very, very small but we are happy to have made it through to the quarter-finals and we will definitely enjoy the experience.’
   Schalke coach Mirko Slomka was more bullish about the draw.
   He said: ‘Barcelona is an excellent opponent for us. From a sporting point of view it’s a marvellous challenge.
   ‘With the support of our fans, we can have a good game in the first leg and travel to Barcelona with a good chance.’

He remains Chelsea’s most celebrated asset five years after his final game for the club, he is a friend of Roman Abramovich, one who shares the Russian’s longing for the beautiful game, and is a man with an ambition to manage at Stamford Bridge. It will therefore relieve Avram Grant to discover Gianfranco Zola does not consider himself qualified for the post. Not yet, anyhow.
   Were it not for the suspicion that the Italian is too nice for the cut-throat world of top level management, one that forced Grant to concede his tenure could be over this summer if he fails to win the Champions League or Premier League, few romantics at the Bridge would oppose the coronation of the man voted their greatest player. Certainly not Abramovich who, perhaps mindful of the broad appeal that Zola continues to resonate and his club continues to lack, has made several attempts to employ the 41-year-old since buying the club just days after the striker brought his own Chelsea career to an end.
   Abramovich has been rebuffed each time he has approached Zola with a job offer and the reason given suggests the current Italy Under-21 assistant coach may have the single-mindedness to succeed after all. ‘We didn’t discuss the capacity, he just wanted the man,’ he explains.
   Zola was speaking in Milan at this week’s launch of La Gazzetta dello Sport’s English-language website where, even in the company of the Italy national manager Roberto Donadoni and the Under-21 coach Pierluigi Casiraghi, his popularity was unrivalled. Zola the fledgling manager looks no different to Zola the player and his affection for Chelsea has not altered since he honoured a commitment to end his playing career with Cagliari, a decision that led Abramovich to consider purchasing the Sardinian club in the hope of enticing its figurehead back to west London. Despite the rejections, Zola maintains a long-term ambition to return to Chelsea, though as manager and not simply as a club adornment.
   ‘I would be crazy to say no,’ is his response to the prospect. ‘Let’s put it this way, one day I would like to be good enough to manage Chelsea. It is in my heart. Mr Abramovich has been very good to me and asked me a couple of times to go back to Chelsea to work but what’s the point of going there and not having anything to do for the club? The way I see it is that I want to go there when I know I can give something back to the club.
   ‘I have been working for just one year, not as a manager but as an assistant to Casiraghi, so I can’t really say I am good enough to be the manager of one of the best teams in Europe. I need to improve and my experience with the Under-21s has been very good. I have learned a lot in a year and a half and I hope I will carry on this way.’
   Last year Zola went on record as saying he felt Grant’s appointment was a short-term measure and though he sympathises with the manager’s problems - ‘In 1997 I would be playing against a Southampton team who were maybe fighting relegation and they would play an open game at Stamford Bridge. Now most teams have ten men sitting behind the ball,’ he reasons - the Italian insists there is a responsibility on Chelsea to entertain.
   However, Zola, who remains in regular contact with Abramovich, John Terry and Carlo Cudicini, insists he has had no indication the Russian has given up on Grant at a time when, despite the club’s FA Cup humiliation at Barnsley last weekend, Chelsea have moved to within five points of leaders Arsenal with a game in hand.
   ‘As far as I know, he seems quite calm. Apparently,’ admitted Zola. ‘If I was Roman Abramovich and spending so much money obviously I would ask for something back. Probably I would want to win or at least try to win and get close. That would be my first idea. It seems that every time I speak to him or look at him on TV he looks quite relaxed. He looks to win but he also wants to see good football. He enjoys good football and I think he wants to be entertained. There’s nothing wrong with that.
   ‘I have always approached my job that way too. I don’t go on the pitch just to win. I know there are people watching and they want to enjoy the game. As much as possible I try to get the balance. To get the results and also make it enjoyable.’

Harry Kewell has been told by Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez that he faces an uphill battle to land a new contract at Anfield.
   Australia international Kewell, 29, becomes a free agent at the end of the current Premier League season and no talks have yet taken place to discuss new terms that would keep the former Leeds United forward on Merseyside.
   The injury-ravaged star has made just 93 league appearances for Liverpool since arriving from Leeds in July 2003 for 5 million pounds (10 million US dollars) and has so far only been able to muster 15 appearances in all competitions this season.
   His failure to secure a regular place in Benitez’s team has prompted Kewell to seek permission from the Spaniard to link up with Pim Verbeek’s Socceroos squad for next week’s training camp in Singapore ahead of the World Cup qualifier against China in Kunming on March 26.
   And after giving Kewell the green light to jet out to the Far East just days before Liverpool face bitter rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League, Benitez said the Australian’s prospects of earning a new deal at Anfield were not healthy.
   ‘Harry will go with Australia because he is not playing in the team at Liverpool at the moment and I have one or two other options for his position,’ Benitez explained.
   ‘It is better for him that he goes because sometimes it can be positive for players to play for their national team, especially if they have not been playing many games.
   ‘It is more difficult for Harry to get a contract now, but if he plays well when he comes back, then we can decide at the end of the season.’

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is confident his side can overcome Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
   The Premier League duo were paired against each other in Friday’s draw in Nyon with the winners of the tie possibly facing Chelsea in the semi-finals.
   Arsenal will play host to Liverpool at the Emirates in the first leg on Wednesday 2nd April, with the return at Anfield the following week on Tuesday 8th April.
   The two sides will tackle each other three times in April with a Premier League clash sandwiched in between the two European ties.
   ‘We were expecting a difficult draw with any English club or the other teams,’ Benitez told Sky Sports News.
   ‘At the end it is Arsenal and they are a very good team, top of the table, so it will be tough for both teams playing three games in a few days so it will be special.
   ‘It is strange [to play three times in a week] it was a possibility and now we will see how we can afford these three games.’
   As for the possibility of first third semi-final against Chelsea in four years should both sides win their last-eight ties, Benitez said: ‘The first thing is to think about Arsenal. After, I think it’s important to go one step at a time.’
   Benitez believes his side are hitting form at the right time as they look to go all the way to Moscow.
   ‘I think it is not the worst moment for us. We have got confidence, we are playing well, we are scoring goals.
   ‘We are progressing in the Champions League, winning against an Italian team that is top of the table and is one of the best teams in Europe. So there is a lot of positive things and we will see if we can progress and win some games.’
   Benitez admitted he would have preferred to have avoided an English rival in the quarter-finals ‘Nobody wanted to play an English team. In this case, we could play two English teams and we will see the situation and I don’t think it will be easy for any of us.’

France striker Nicolas Anelka wants to finish his career at Chelsea after growing tired of constantly changing clubs.
   Anelka, 29, joined Chelsea from Bolton in the January transfer window and already feels comfortable enough at Stamford Bridge that he is keen to spend the rest of his playing days there.
   That attitude contrasts with Anelka’s wanderlust throughout much of a career that has encompassed nine clubs.
   After tasting success as a teenager with Arsenal, Anelka moved to Real Madrid and has also played for the likes of Paris Saint Germain, Liverpool and Fenerbahce.
   Now he expects to put down much firmer roots in west London.
   ‘When I reflect on my career I have no regrets,’ Anelka told the Daily Mail.
   ‘It doesn’t matter I have not always been at the biggest clubs. My time at City and at Bolton was wonderful. I met a lot of good people at both clubs.
   ‘But I have travelled enough and I would like to settle at Chelsea. I am back in the national team.
   ‘I am back at a big club in London, playing in a team with the quality to win things. I would be very happy if my career ended the way it started.’

Bayern Munich have suspended defender Martin Demichelis until further notice after he refused a request to play in midfield in this Saturday’s match against Energie Cottbus, the Bundesliga leaders said on Friday.
   The Argentina international had ‘lost the plot’ and the club had no alternative but to leave him behind in Munich and ban him from training, coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said on the club’s Web site (www.fcbayern.de).
   The 27-year-old had played in defensive midfield against Schalke 04 and Karlsruhe SC earlier this month but refused to play there again, he said.
   ‘A player can’t choose which position he wants to play in,’ Hitzfeld said. ‘This is not a musical request programme and it remains a decision exclusively for the coach.’
   Demichelis had stormed into the Bayern press room after training on Friday to tell reporters his side of the story, sports news agency SID reported.
   ‘My heart beats for FC Bayern and I feel like a son of the club,’ SID quoted him as saying.
   ‘I want to apologise to the fans for this behaviour and don’t want to criticise Ottmar Hitzfeld but I am a regular player in Argentina and also want to play in my regular position.’

Manchester United defender Jonny Evans will not face charges over allegations he raped a girl at the club’s Christmas party, officials said on Friday.
   The Crown Prosecution Service said there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to prosecute the 20-year-old Northern Ireland international, who was arrested after an incident in an upmarket hotel in Manchester on December 17.
   A 26-year-old woman claimed she had been raped as players danced and drank on an evening of allegedly wild partying for the United squad.
   The CPS said there was no chance of securing a conviction in the case.
   Carol Jackson, head of the rape and family abuse team at the Manchester office of the CPS, said: ‘We take any allegation of rape extremely seriously and all rape cases are reviewed by specialist prosecutors.

Arsene Wenger believes Robin van Persie’s return to full fitness is perfectly timed to revitalise Arsenal as they close in on Premier League and Champions League glory.
   Van Persie, 24, is finally back in Wenger’s squad after recovering from a knee injury which had sidelined him for most of the campaign.
   The Dutch striker has played only a handful of matches since suffering the problem on international duty in October and Wenger concedes the absence of a player who scored seven times in 11 appearances this season has been a huge blow.
   With Eduardo out for the season and Togo forward Emmanuel Adebayor carrying the burden of leading Arsenal’s attack, van Persie’s re-emergence couldn’t have come at a better moment.
   The Gunners have spluttered in the Premier League recently as they race to the finish line with Manchester United. As if that wasn’t enough to keep them occupied, Friday’s Champions League quarter-final draw paired Arsenal with English rivals Liverpool.
   It promises to be a gruelling end to the season and Wenger is convinced van Persie’s presence will provide a much-needed spark.
   ‘We lost Eduardo and he and van Persie scored goals so the pressure was on Adebayor,’ Wenger said. ‘To have Robin back releases a little bit of the pressure because he can score as well.
   ‘He can give you the final ball, score free-kicks, he’s dangerous on corners and he can score.
   ‘At the end of the season, that could make for an interesting total. He can give us the final push.’
   Wenger sees a natural dove-tailing of contrasting talents in van Persie and Adebayor’s partnership. Van Persie’s more predatory instincts are an ideal fit with the more powerful and direct Adebayor.
   It is a combination Wenger hopes will bring a first trophy since 2005 to the Emirates Stadium.
   ‘It is a very good partnership. They have a good understanding. Naturally their football complements each other,’ he said. ‘Robin likes to go to the distribution and finishing. Adebayor is more a targetman.’
   Adebayor’s impressive form this season has been a bonus for Wenger, who can still remember the day he first spotted the Togo star’s potential.
   ‘Adebayor has got 19 league goals and we did not count on that at the start of the season,’ Wenger added.
   ‘I first saw him in Monaco in the Champions League against Sevilla. That night it struck me he had something special.
   ‘He has worked hard. He has dedicated his life completely to football and when you are a champion there is only one secret; talent plus work. He took the second part very seriously and that is why he is successful.’
   If Arsenal are to reclaim the Premier League crown for the first time in four years, Wenger will have to find a way to steady his young team’s nerves.
   The tension will mount with each game now and it would be easy for a group of players who has never experienced a title battle before to crack.
   But after watching the Gunners produced a tour de force to knock AC Milan out of the Champions League in the San Siro, it is not a prospect that Wenger is losing much sleep over.
   ‘At some stage when you fight for the big prizes you get into March and April when every game can change your season from fantastic to super-fantastic to terrible,’ he said.
   ‘Our belief is very strong. At the moment I am quite indifferent to the Champions League as I want us to do well in the Championship now and take off again.
   ‘The players are ready. There is a mixture of focus and tension in training. That means everyone is highly focused and wants to do well.’

Carlos Tevez believes Paul Scholes can motor Manchester United all the way to Moscow.
   The Red Devils must plot a path past Roma in the Champions League quarter-finals, then either Barcelona or Schalke in the last four to make the final in Russia.
   But Tevez reckons veteran team-mate Scholes is the man to do it.
   Scholes was suspended for the final when United lifted the Champions League trophy back in 1999.
   And while most players will have happy memories of thrashing Roma 7-1 in the quarter-final second leg last season, Scholes was banned for that too as he was sent off in the first game in Rome.
   But Argentine striker Tevez insists the former England international will be the key man in their bid for glory this season – despite being 33.
   Tevez told The Sun, ‘When you see Scholes day to day, he’s incredible.
   ‘He’s the motor of Manchester and has been for a long while.
   ‘He’s a fundamental piece for the manager and us – that’s very noticeable – and he has incredible quality and personality.
   ‘Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney are fantastic players but if you ask me who w as the one that has surprised me the most, then it’s Scholesy.’
   Scholes has adapted his game as a deep-lying midfielder spraying the ball about rather than one who arrives late in the area to score.
   He pulls the strings rather than ties the knot.
   It is left to the likes of Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo to finish things off – although Tevez has quickly found there is more to life at Old Trafford than just grabbing the glory.
   He said, ‘I’m playing in the part of the pitch where I want to play.
   ‘But I also have to get used to some of the things I’m asked to do, like starting from a little deeper and closing down the holding midfielder of the other team when we lose the ball to stop him playing.
   ‘But the manager wants me to arrive in the area and score goals. That’s what he asks of me.
   ‘I’m not going to say it’s easy but when you consider the monster players I’ve got playing alongside me, I’m always going to be put through in one-on-one situations.
   ‘In every game I get at least a couple of one-on-ones and so I have to take my chances.’
   Tevez has 15 goals this season, Rooney 13 and Ronaldo an amazing 30.
   Tevez said, ‘Rooney’s a phenomenon. He has treated me well. He was one of the first to look after me when I arrived. He always asked me if I needed anything. He’s a good colleague.
   ‘As a person he’s impressed me a lot. He helped me a lot in everything. As a player he is one of the ones who surprised me the most, he and Scholes.’
   With four teams in the Champions League quarter-finals, the Premier League is being hailed as the best in the world. Tevez agrees.
   He said, ‘English football for me is the best and most exciting to watch. As I said when I played for West Ham, it’s an impressive league.
   ‘The stadiums are always full, even when you play in the early rounds of cup competitions and friendlies. At Old Trafford that is 76,000 people seated. That doesn’t happen in Italy and Spain.’
   Boss Alex Ferguson describes Tevez as a terrier. But the player admits he has also had to become a bulldog.
   He said, ‘You come up against defenders you don’t know, names you haven’t heard much about but they’re very big and strong.
   ‘A lot of pushing, grabbing and barging are allowed. They push you in the ribs but the referees don’t give fouls unless it’s blatant.
   ‘They are not dirty players and don’t do it in bad faith but the game has a lot more physical contact here.’
   United will be confident of beating Roma, having thrashed them 8-3 on aggregate a year ago. This season they won 1-0 at home and drew 1-1 away with a weakened team.
   Ferguson said, ‘It’s amazing that we will have played Roma six times in a year. That makes it an intriguing tie because we know a lot about Roma but they know a lot about us.
   ‘I have a feeling it will be another great European tie.’

Barcelona forward Thierry Henry has denied he is unsettled in Spain.
   The 30-year-old admitted earlier this week he was ‘not happy’ because he does not see his two-year-old daughter as often as he would like following his divorce last year shortly after his transfer to the Nou Camp from Arsenal.
   But a statement released on behalf of the player read: ‘There have been recent press reports suggesting that Thierry Henry is unhappy at FC Barcelona. This is not true.
   ‘Thierry loves Spain and the vibrant city of Barcelona. He is thoroughly enjoying playing for the club and has a lot of time for the fans. The only downside he experiences by being in Spain is that, due to his hectic playing schedule, he cannot see his daughter as much as he would like to.’
   The statement will be welcomed by Barca coach Frank Rijkaard after Henry’s earlier words fuelled intense speculation about his future.
   ‘I’ve got some personal problems and my daughter is the most important thing in my life,’ Henry was quoted as saying.
   ‘I’m not happy because a father that only sees his daughter five times in the last eight months cannot be.
   ‘If you know what it is to have a daughter then you can imagine what it is like. I’m not asking you to cry for me, only that people don’t talk for me.’
   Former Arsenal striker Henry also suggested his form - he has scored seven goals in 19 Primera Liga games - has not been helped by playing in an unfamiliar position.
   ‘I played for eight years in a team in a specific position and now I’m at another club in another position with a different tactical system,’ he said.
   ‘It’s time to stop comparing the Barcelona Henry with the Arsenal Henry. This is the Henry that you are seeing here.’
   Barcelona are second in La Liga, eight points behind bitter rivals Real Madrid.

Manchester United and Roma will meet again in the last eight of the Champions League.
   The teams – who have played in the competition already this season and also met last year – will do battle again over two legs next month, with the first leg in Rome on April 1 and the second leg at Old Trafford eight days later. The winners of the tie will meet either Barcelona or Schalke in the last four.
   And Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken of his ‘concern’ for United supporters when they travel to Italy.
   Security is bound to be tight given the recent history of trouble off the pitch when the clubs have met.
   Five United fans were stabbed in clashes with opposing supporters in December in the final group game in Italy.
   Scenes of violence and disorder marred the two clubs’ Champions League games last season, although the October meeting at Old Trafford passed off peacefully.
   Eighteen United fans needed hospital treatment in April after clashes on the terraces in Rome and outside the ground.
   Italian police were accused by United club officials of handing out ‘indiscriminate beatings’ and violence flared again a week later at the return leg when scuffles broke out outside the ground.
   A volley of missiles was thrown at Roma supporters as they entered the away end turnstiles and 21 people, including 14 United fans, were arrested.
   And Ferguson admitted the problems which have blighted recent encounters are a worry.
   ‘Away from the football, obviously my biggest concern is the fans,’ he told the club’s official website. During the game in Rome this season the security was much improved.
   ‘But there will be even more fans travelling with us for this match. That said, I have a feeling it will be another great European tie.’
   Ferguson also said he finds it hard to believe they will have faced Roma six times in a year when the tie is completed next month. He added, ‘That makes it intriguing because we know a lot about Roma, but they know a lot about us. It is incredible as I had a strong feeling that we would draw an English side.’
   United assistant boss Carlos Queiroz has warned his players Roma are a much better team than the one thrashed 7-1 at Old Trafford last season.
   He said, ‘We should know them very well. But what is our strength is also our weakness.
   ‘Roma know us very well after they played against us so many times, especially after they way we beat them last season.
   ‘I’m sure it will be a difficult game as all games are at this stage.
   ‘I think we have a good chance. We know we can beat them. We need to be ready to play against a team that is improving a lot.
   ‘This Roma team is much, much better compared with the team we played some months ago.’
   Queiroz was pleased to have avoided an English team, especially Liverpool, who United face in the Premier League shortly before the quarter-finals.
   ‘Imagine if the draw was against Liverpool for instance,’ he said.
   ‘To play Liverpool three times in 15 days is nothing special. There is a lot of emotion and a lot of passion of course.
   ‘But from my perspective and the club’s perspective, to play against teams abroad is more what you expect when you talk about the Champions League.’
   Midfielder Darren Fletcher echoed Queiroz’s caution, admitting he was very impressed with Roma’s performances to knock out Real Madrid.
   He said, ‘You have to take that result (7-1) with a pinch of salt as everything went for us that night.
   ‘This game will not be like that. We will give them the respect they deserve – it is a massive game. They were fantastic against Real Madrid.’
   Roma goalkeeper Alexander Doni said, ‘We want revenge.
   ‘The trip to Old Trafford last season was a nightmare. But this year we are different, we have more experience, we are much improved.’
   He added, ‘In the past month we have won a lot of games, including the two ties against Madrid.
   ‘We have more confidence, more experience and we are mentally stronger.’
   But one of Roma’s most senior players Marco Cassetti has admitted that the tie with Manchester United was a ‘nightmare’. Speaking from the Roma training ground on the outskirts of the city, Cassetti said, ‘There were many bad words spoken in our dressing room as soon as the draw was made. We have to play them again and once again we have to play at home first and then go to Old Trafford.
   ‘We all know what happened there last time. This is a disaster for us, a nightmare. For us, it is the same old story.’

UEFA have dismissed rumours the Champions League draw might have been fixed, branding them ‘ridiculous’ and ‘impossible’.
   A post left on a newspaper’s internet forum at 10.28am on Friday morning - 90 minutes before the draw took place in Nyon, Switzerland - correctly predicted the entire quarter-final draw.
   The poster claimed bookmakers were no longer willing to accept bets on the draw, although it is understood that most were not running books on it anyway.
   When all four ties predicted in the post came to fruition it caused fevered internet speculation that some sort of manipulation might have taken place.
   But a UEFA spokesman said: ‘It is just a lucky guess. ‘I have been in touch with people internally and they are quite surprised. They find it a little ridiculous actually.
   ‘The results of the draw and the practice draw were completely different, and I think it was just pure luck that this guy could get them all right. ‘That’s the only explanation we can give.’
   Former Russia goalkeeper Rinat Dasaev pulled the balls out of the hat during the draw, which was televised live, with UEFA general secretary David Taylor watching on. UEFA are confident that the entire procedure was impossible to rig.
   ‘It’s a draw that’s open to the public and club representatives. The balls are all of the same colour and there are no distinctive marks on them,’ the spokesman added.
   ‘I was just 10 metres away and what was drawn was also read by Mr Taylor. It (a fix) is impossible.’

Barcelona star Lionel Messi arrived home in Argentina on Friday saying he wanted to devote himself to a full and speedy recovery from a torn left quadricep.
   Barcelona are hoping the inspirational Messi will make a speedy recovery.
   Messi, 20, told a news conference that he would head to his family home in Rosario for a rehabilitation expected to last about six weeks.
   On March 4, Messi was injured in a 1-0 victory over Celtic in the Champions League.
   The injury was similar to the one that sidelined the Argentine star for six weeks in December and January.
   ‘I have to think now about getting well and recovering in time to rejoin my team,’ Messi said at the Argentina national team headquarters in the Buenos Aires suburb of Ezeiza.
   Although based in Spain, he believed coming home was the best decision: ‘I’m much more at ease with my family’ nearby, he said.
   If his recovery goes as expected, Messi would miss only six Spanish league games and the Champions League quarterfinal where Barcelona have been paired with German side FC Schalke.
   He has already been ruled out of Argentina’s friendly against Egypt in Cairo on March 26.

Francis Cornejo, the Argentine scout who recruited Diego Maradona after seeing him play at 8 years old on a dusty soccer field, has died. He was 76.
   Cornejo died in a hospital Thursday after an unspecified illness, according to the Argentinos Juniors club, where Cornejo was a longtime adviser and Maradona got his start. Cornejo first saw Maradona play on hardscrabble fields in a working-class neighborhood of Buenos Aires decades ago. He took Maradona under his wing and recruited him for the Argentinos Juniors youth team.
   Maradona went on to become soccer’s greatest ever player. He was captain of the Argentine team that won the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
   Cornejo said in one of his final interviews that in identifying Maradona early on he was ‘happy for having painted one of the most beautiful paintings of all.’

Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o would have preferred facing Chelsea or Manchester United rather than Schalke 04 in the Champions League quarter-finals.
   ‘There are lots of other people who would have wanted Schalke, but I can assure you there are no easy games,’ the Cameroon international told reporters after Friday’s draw.
   ‘I would have preferred to be drawn against Chelsea or Manchester United because at least then you would have been going with the idea that it is going to be tough. Games like these can be a trap and I hope we don’t fall into it because Schalke deserve to be there just like any other team.’
   Spanish media were unanimous Barca had a favourable draw by avoiding the four British teams and getting the unfancied Bundesliga side making their first appearance in the last eight.
   To support his argument, though, Eto’o referred to last year’s King’s Cup tie against semi-final debutants Getafe when Barcelona let a 5-2 first-leg lead slip as they went out of the competition after embarrassing 4-0 defeat in the return.
   ‘We saw what happened in the King’s Cup last year when we played Getafe,’ he said. ‘When we play to our best and concentrate, there is no one who can beat us, but we have to be 100 per cent focused.’
   Barca are scheduled to visit Gelsenkirchen on April 1, with the return at the Nou Camp on April 9.

Brazilian football legend Pele says he is pessimistic about the recovery chances of Milan striker Ronaldo, who is currently recuperating from a knee surgery.
   ‘It is a shame, but I think he will never again be what he was before,’ Pele said Friday about Ronaldo here.
   On the sidelines of a programme where Pele was named an ‘ambassador’ of the prestigious South American tournament Copa Libertadores, he said he had visited Ronaldo when he suffered a similar injury on his right knee in 2000.
   ‘He recovered and played an excellent World Cup in Japan and South Korea in 2002,’ Pele said.
   However, he stressed that the three-time FIFA Player of the Year will have more trouble getting over his physical problems now.
   ‘It is true medicine made progress, but so did Ronaldo’s age. I would be delighted for him if he returns to 100 per cent fitness, but unfortunately I don’t think he will,’ Pele said.
   The Brazilian football legend also made it clear that he does not agree with the widespread enthusiasm generated by Milan’s Brazilian youngster Alexandre Pato.
   Pele admitted that Pato, 18, has some similar characteristics to him, but noted that he is still far from being a star.
   ‘To be a superstar, he will have to improve his headers, which are still not good,’ he said. He also ruled Pato out of the race to become his successor. ‘There will be no new Pele,’ he said confidently.

Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero said on Friday he was convinced he could force his way into Italy coach Roberto Donadoni’s Euro 2008 squad.
   ‘Donadoni wants responses on the field and I know I can give them to him,’ Del Piero, who has scored 11 goals in Serie A this term, told a news conference.
   ‘I’m aware of the beautiful season I’ve had up to now and I want to finish even better. Then the coach has the freedom to make the choices he feels most appropriate. I must continue as I am.’
   The 33-year-old striker has not played for Italy since giving a lacklustre showing in September’s 0-0 draw with France in a Euro 2008 qualifier.