Ton-up Clarke rescues Australia
Agence France-Presse . New Delhi
India (613/7 dec & 43/2) lead Australia (577) by 79 runs at stumps, day 4
Michael Clarke hit a gritty century to steer Australia to safety on the fourth day of the third Test against a sloppy India here on Saturday.
Clarke, 27, led Australia’s commendable fightback with a 112-run knock that spanned six hours and took the tourists to a first innings score of 577 all out, just 36 adrift of India’s 613-7 declared.
The visitors then reduced India to 43-2 with Brett Lee accounting for Virender Sehwag (12) and Stuart Clark dismissing nightwatchman Ishant Sharma for one.
India’s first-innings double-centurion Gautam Gambhir was batting on 21 with Rahul Dravid on five at close. With the wicket not showing much signs of deterioration, a draw looks the likely result.
India lead the four-match Test series 1-0 after winning the second Test in Mohali by 320 runs. The opener in Bangalore ended in a draw.
The platform for Australia’s fightback was laid by their top-order batsmen, who made handy contributions before Clarke came to the party with his eighth Test century.
The Aussie vice-captain shared a 73-run stand with Shane Watson (36) and added 103 for the seventh wicket with Cameron White (44) while surviving three dropped chances by the butter-fingered Indians.
He was dropped on 21, 90 and 94, underlining India’s indifferent effort in the field and probably dashing their hopes of forcing a series-clinching win here.
“It (dropped catches) certainly helped me,” Clarke said after the day’s play.
“I had a bit of luck. The wicket played quite well and personally, it was very rewarding to make another century in India. But a lot of credit goes to guys like Hayden, Ponting, Katich and Hussey who set the game up for us.
“We will now try and take a few quick wickets tomorrow and try and win the game.”
The only bright spot for the hosts was the maiden five-wicket haul by part-time off-spinner Sehwag, who finished with fine figures of 5-104.
India coach Gary Kirsten admitted that the team failed to grab the opportunities that came their way.
“It wasn’t a great day for us,” he said. “The Aussies fought back and got themselves in a strong position from the batting perspective.
“We did not bowl in the right areas and did not create enough pressure. We also missed a few opportunities that came our way. Had we grabbed those chances, the situation could have been different.”
The highlight of the day was Clarke’s patient 253-ball knock, containing six fours and a six.
He was dropped twice in his 90s with Venkatsai Laxman — celebrating his 34th birthday — failing to cup a sitter off Sehwag and Amit Mishra (2-144) grassing another in the bowler’s next over.
Clarke, who scored 151 on his Test debut against India in Bangalore in 2004, was earlier spilled on 21 by Sharma who failed to latch on to a simple chance at mid-on off Mishra.
He was finally dismissed by Mishra, who had him caught by Zaheer Khan at long off.
Sehwag, India’s only triple-centurion, bowled White to bag his first Test five-wicket haul. White hit five fours and a six off leg-spinner Anil Kumble in his cameo 95-ball effort.
Kumble (1-94) returned to bowl in the 15th over a day after needing 11 stitches for a deep cut he sustained on his left little finger on Friday.
The Indian captain, who bowled with a broken jaw against West Indies in Antigua in 2002, picked his first wicket of the series when he had Brad Haddin (17) stumped by Mahendra Dhoni.
The fourth and final Test will be played in Nagpur from Nov 6-10.
‘Sydney Test prompted retirement’
Cricinfo
Adam Gilchrist has said though his problems with wicketkeeping had influenced his decision to retire from international cricket, the controversial Sydney Test against India was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’.
‘I certainly did not retire because my sportsmanship was questioned, and I didn’t even decide to retire that week but on top of everything else that had gone on I feel the controversies around the Sydney Test were the straw that broke the camel’s back,’ Gilchrist wrote in his newly published book True Colours.
The match had been a tense one with umpiring errors and on-field sledging overshadowing the play.
Harbhajan Singh was banned for alleged racial abuse against Andrew Symonds but was let off on appeal, much to the disappointment of the Australians. Gilchrist also criticised Harbhajan’s behaviour in his book.
Gilchrist announced his retirement during the final Test of the series in Adelaide soon after going past Mark Boucher to become the keeper with most Test dismissals.
But he said in his book that his poor form with the gloves during the series had been playing on his mind for a while.
‘I was beginning to resolve finally on pulling out of one-day cricket, but I wasn’t quitting Tests,’ Gilchrist wrote.
‘I hadn’t even asked [my wife] Mel to come to Adelaide. ... We lost the toss and fielded all day, the [Sachin] Tendulkar factory churning out another ton. My concentration wasn’t good. Even in the first session I was asking myself: ‘Do I really want to just pull out of one-dayers? Should I keep doing both?’ The ball was generally hitting me in the heels of my hands rather than palms. No one would have seen it from the outside, but my hands were continually a fraction of a second late. This had been happening for a little while now.’
He had dropped three catches during the Sydney Test which he said made him feel he wasn’t a genuine keeper. ‘I was really a batsman who wore gloves.’
Gilchrist was known for walking on being dismissed, most memorably during the semi-final of the World Cup in 2003. But he said it made him feel isolated in the Australian team. ‘... silently accused of betraying the team. Implicitly, I was made to feel selfish, as if I was walking for the sake of my own clean image, thereby making everyone else look dishonest. My action in the 2003 World Cup semi-final had become such a big deal because it held up a mirror to every player... [but] that I walked wasn’t a judgment on others.’
Harbhajan slams Gilchrist
Cricinfo
Harbhajan Singh has reacted angrily to the comments by Adam Gilchrist in his autobiography that he and Sourav Ganguly missed the 2004 Nagpur Test against Australia because of their reluctance to play on a grassy pitch.
‘It’s time somebody asked him to shut up,’ Harbhajan told the Kolkata-based Telegraph. ‘I suppose Gilchrist needs to get his head examined.’
In his book True Colours Gilchrist questioned Harbhajan and Ganguly’s decision to skip the Test that gave the visitors their first series win in the country in 35 years.
Ganguly, India’s captain during the 2004 series, pulled out on the morning of the Test complaining of pain in the groin, while Harbhajan missed the game after contracting flu.
Gilchrist wrote Harbhajan was out of the Test ‘with a ‘flu’, which he seemed to have contracted when he saw the grassy wicket’.
‘...I still don’t know to this day what was wrong with Ganguly and Harbhajan.’
He also slammed Harbhajan for his role in the Sydney Test for which he was charged on grounds of racial abuse against Andrew Symonds.
Harbhajan was handed a three-match ban which was overturned on appeal.
Harbhajan said Gilchrist should not be using fellow cricketers to sell his book. ‘I’m sure there are other ways to do that.’
Gilchrist also questioned the evidence given by Sachin Tendulkar in the racism case against Harbhajan, labeling it a ‘joke’.
Harbhajan had criticised him for his remarks on Tendulkar and said Gilchrist was himself not respected because of his on-field behaviour.
Gambhir ban sours Indo-Aussie clash
Reuters/Bdnews24.com . New Delhi
Batsman Gautam Gambhir’s one-Test ban has again drawn attention to the acrimony that has marred India’s recent tussles with Australia.
Gambhir was suspended by International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Chris Broad on Friday for elbowing Shane Watson while taking a run on the opening day of the third Test in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Australia all-rounder Watson was fined for provoking the batsman, the incident bringing to a head a series of verbal clashes forcing the umpires to intervene.
Gambhir was also fined for barging into Shahid Afridi in a one-dayer against Pakistan last November.
The Indian cricket board has lodged an appeal against his latest ban, which would allow the 27-year-old to play in the fourth and final Test.
This series started in the shadow of India’s tour to Australia in January when spinner Harbhajan Singh was at the centre of another storm.
India then overstepped the line again when paceman Zaheer Khan was fined 80 percent of his fee in the second-Test win in Mohali for a verbal send-off of opener Matthew Hayden after the Australia opener had been dismissed.
Players from both sides made good-behaviour pledges before the series but have since shown scant regard to Broad.
Some pundits say the Indians are adopting a tit-for-tat approach against Australia, who have long been accused of gamesmanship by sledging rival players.
‘It is a sign of self-belief,’ former India captain Ravi Shastri told Reuters. ‘Give back as good as you get but make sure you don’t cross the line and look stupid.
‘It is India who have played well against Australia in the last three or four years.’
Shastri said England skipper Kevin Pietersen had shown the best way to tackle Australia was to stand up to them.
‘Kevin has shown he is capable of backing his words by taking that extra pressure upon himself and performing,’ he said.
Shastri backed Gambhir’s ban and warned players against violating the spirit of the game but also said the Indian verbal response was having its effect on Australia, who trail 1-0 in the series.
In the controversial Sydney Test in January, Harbhajan was initially banned after being found guilty of racially abusing Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds.
India threatened to pull out of the tour if the ban was upheld and he was eventually let-off with a fine after the charge was downgraded to use of abusive language.
The attitude of the Indian players has changed markedly since they won the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007, beating Australia on their way.
During this series Zaheer, Vangipurappu Laxman and India vice-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni have dubbed Ricky Ponting’s side too defensive.
Some pundits say India’s young, self-confident players are more aggressive but that the captains should help ease the tension and ensure the focus of attention is firmly on the playing of the game rather than side issues.
BCB calls up 20 U-17s for
preliminary camp
Staff Correspondent
Bangladesh Cricket Board on Saturday declared a 20-member preliminary U-17 squad for the tour of Nepal.
The selected cricketers have been asked to report to Shahidul Islam, the logistics officer of BCB’s HP Programme, at the BKSP at Savar at 5:00pm on November 3.
The BCB will form a 14-member team for the tour of the Himalayan nation after the completion of the week-long training camp.
The selected players are: Zakaria Masud, Enamul Hoque, Ashiq-ul-Alam, Soumya Sarkar, Iktedar Nazeef Ahmed, Imamul Hossain, Didar Hossain, Dewan Sabbir Ahmed, M Habibullah, M Sentu, M Asif Hassan and Sumit Chowdhury (Dhaka Metro); Jayanta Das, Kazi Nurul Hassan (Khulna division); Shanaz Ahmed, Sayem Alam Rezvi, Abu Jayed (Sylhet division); Mehedi Hasan, Faizan Khan (Chittagong division); Mamun Hossain (Rajshahi-north).
BOA launches ‘Sports for All’
Staff Correspondent
The Bangladesh Olympic Association, in its bid to involve people of the country in the sports and also to revive the traditional games, unveiled a five-year long programme titled ‘Sports for All’ on Saturday.
Under the programme, the BOA will organise a day-long sporting event in one district of the country at least once a month.
The long-forgotten games will get priority.
Rangpur will host the first event under the new project on November 5 and Sylhet will be the next to host such a event on November 16.
Rangpur will hold the event in a grand way. The organisers have planned a massive demonstration of the traditional games as well as inviting the people to witness the events.
The BOA has formed a powerful committee with secretary General Kutubuddin Ahmed as its convenor and vice-president Mizanur Rahman Manu as the adviser.
Aga Khan Int’l School clinch title
Staff Correspondent
Aga Khan International School clinched the title of the first Dhaka Metropolitan Women’s School Football Tournament beating Scholastica School 3-2 in an evenly-contested final at the Dhanmondi Women’s Sports Complex on Saturday.
Adiba of Aga Khan International School scored a brace to help her team lift the silverware.
Karishma, who has been on the score-sheet from the very beginning of the tournament, put Scholastica ahead on 11 minutes but Adiba of Aga Khan School cancelled out the lead in the 21st minute.
Mosaba of Aga Khan International School netted the second goal in the 23rd minute to restore the lead but their joy was short-lived as Zara levelled the margin for Scholastica one minute later.
Adiba scored the winner in the 32nd minute amid huge cheers from her school-mates.
Adiba of Aga Khan School was adjudged best player of the final, Zara of Scholastica School named the best player of the tournament while Papiya of Azimpur Girls School the highest scorer of the tournament.
BFF president Kazi Salahuddin witnessed the final as chief guest while the general manager of Pacific Telecom Ltd, Sania Mahmud, was present as special guest.
Czech GM to coach Bangladesh
team at Olympiad
Staff correspondent
Grandmaster Igors Rausis of the Czech Republic will coach the Bangladesh chess team at the 38th Chess Olympiad scheduled to be held from November 12-25 in Dresden, Germany.
Syed Shujauddin Ahmed, a former president and currently a member of the Bangladesh Chess Federation, was supposed to accompany the team as an official but he withdrew his name that opened the door for Rausis to coach Bangladesh team.
The general secretary of the federation, Jamilur Rahman, also withdrew his name due to financial constraints.
A total of 152 countries will participate in the Chess Olympiad.
Nafees steers Dhaka to victory
Cricinfo
Dhaka Warriors (138/2) beat Chandigarh Lions (137) by eight wickets
The Dhaka Warriors moved into fourth place in the league and kept their semi-final hopes alive by beating the Chandigarh Lions by eight wickets in Panchkula.
Shahriar Nafees led Dhaka’s charge and his unbeaten 73 ensured that the target of 138 was achieved in the 18th over.
Nafees’ task was made easier by Dhaka’s bowlers who had backed up their captain Habibul Bashar’s decision to field by restricting Chandigarh to 137 for 9. After conceding 23 off the first two overs, Dhaka struck three rapid blows that irreparably damaged Chandigarh’s innings.
Mohammad Sharif landed the first in the third over when he induced TP Singh to sky a pull to midwicket. Tapash Baisya struck the second, trapping Sarabjit Singh, who was given out after a referral, leg before off the last ball of the fourth over.
The very next delivery, an awful mix-up resulted in Lou Vincent being run out without facing a ball. Dhaka had gone from 25 for 0 to 29 for 3 in nine balls.
They continued to lose wickets periodically and though three middle-order batsmen got starts - Chetan Sharma, Andrew Hall and Bipul Sharma scored more than 25 - no one got past 30. Mohammad Rafique was Dhaka’s most successful bowler, finishing with 3 for 28.
The target didn’t require a slam-bang approach and Dhaka’s openers Nafees and Nazimuddin began steadily.
They scored only 15 off the first three overs before tucking into Daryl Tuffey: Nazimuddin hit him for fours through cover and midwicket, while Nafees steered one to the third-man boundary.
They batted sensibly, finding the boundary every other over while ensuring a steady stream of singles. By the time Nazimuddin fell, sweeping to midwicket in the ninth over, Dhaka had already reached 53. Aftab Ahmed fell soon after, and Nafees who was 33 at the time, became more determined to finish the job.
Nafees found an aggressive partner in Alok Kapali, the ICL’s only centurion, and the pair added 76 in quick time to complete the victory. Both batsmen favoured the midwicket region, and sent the ball sailing over the boundary. Kapali raced to 32 off 17 balls and Nafees hit Love Ablish for three fours to improve his strike-rate.
The end was emphatic - Kapali pulling the Chandigarh captain Hall to the midwicket boundary to spark off celebrations.
Duminy sets up big South Africa win
Agence France-Presse . Bloemfontein
South Africa (336/7) beat Kenya (177) by 159 runs
Jean-Paul Duminy hit 90 and took three wickets with his off-spin as South Africa scored a comfortable 159-run win against Kenya in the first one-day international at Springbok Park Friday.
South Africa made 336 for seven and bowled Kenya out for 177.
The left-handed Duminy, 24, confirmed his reputation as one of South Africa’s most talented young players with an elegant innings.
He made his career-highest score off 88 balls with eight fours before he holed out to long-off with three overs remaining in the innings.
Duminy followed up his batting effort by taking three for 31, also a career-best, making his first strike with his fourth delivery when he ended an attacking innings by Alex Obanda, who top-scored for Kenya with 38.
Fellow off-spinner Johan Botha, captaining South Africa in the absence of the injured Graeme Smith, also claimed the best figures of his career, taking four for 19 as the slow bowlers worked their way through Kenya’s batting.
Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher joined Duminy in hitting half-centuries for South Africa after they won the toss and batted on a true but slow pitch.
Kallis, in his first international appearance since a disappointing tour of England, made a confident 71 while Boucher hammered an unbeaten 57 off 30 balls to give the innings late impetus.
Kallis was content to play a measured innings as he sought to recapture his best form after working with former Western Province and England coach Duncan Fletcher to eliminate flaws in his technique which were exposed in England. He faced 86 balls and hit five fours and a six.
Kenya were hampered by a muscle injury which forced the experienced Thomas Odoyo off the field four balls into his fourth over.
It was Kenya’s first match against a major cricket nation since the 2007 World Cup and captain Steve Tikolo admitted: ‘We were outplayed. You need to play these bigger teams more often to compete at this level.’
South Africa’s pace bowlers were unimpressive with Obanda, 20, hitting some powerful strokes off Monde Zondeki and Albie Morkel. But the Kenyan innings went into decline when Duminy and Botha bowled in tandem.
Both spinners took two wickets in their first spells as four wickets fell for 31 runs. The second and final match in the series is in Kimberley today.
Younus warns tour isolation will
harm Pakistan game
Agence France-Presse . Adelaide
Pakistan Test batsman Younus Khan says cricket in his homeland will wither away through a lack of top-line competition.
The 30-year-old right-hander is playing a part-season for South Australia in Australian domestic cricket and last week scored a match-saving 71 not out in South Australia’s second innings against New South Wales in a Sheffield Shield game here.
Australia have not toured Pakistan over security fears since 1998.
They forced Pakistan to relocate a series to the neutral grounds of Sri Lanka and Sharjah in 2002 after the Australian government advised them against touring in the wake of the September 11 attacks the year before.
Australia again postponed their full tour of Pakistan in March this year over security fears and only agreed to reschedule the tour into two visits for a one-day series in 2009 and for Tests in 2010.
And Australian players were at the forefront of boycotting the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in September, which has now been postponed until October next year.
Younus warned cricket in Pakistan will fall away if it remained starved of visiting top-line opponents.
‘At the moment we are in very bad shape,’ Younus told The Australian newspaper Saturday.
‘In Pakistan there are a lot of very good people. But because of some mad people, perhaps five percent of the population, because of them we are suffering at the moment.
‘The Pakistani people are not like that. They love Australian cricket. They love to watch Brett Lee bowling, or Shaun Tait, or Ricky Ponting, they say ‘oh what a fantastic player Ricky Ponting is’.
‘If they’re not touring, we will be suffering. It will be very bad for us.’
Less than two weeks after arriving from Pakistan, Younus has some claim to being the most popular member of the South Australian team, the newspaper said.
Team physio Jon Porter said of Younus: ‘Mate, he’s brilliant. I’ve never met a happier bloke. Even when (New South Wales) made 550 he didn’t stop smiling.’
Younus has scored 4,816 runs in 58 Tests at an average of 49.14, with 15 centuries, and has played in 175 one-day internationals for Pakistan since 2000.
Intikhab prefers domestic
games over camps
Cricinfo
Intikhab Alam, the new Pakistan coach, has given preference to match experience in domestic tournaments over camps to prepare for the home series against India in January next year.
Intikhab took over from Geoff Lawson in late October and his first assignment will be the ODI series against West Indies in Abu Dhabi starting November 12.
‘I would say there is no better way to prepare national team probables than to make them play every competitive match of the forthcoming Quaid-e-Azam Trophy,’ Intikhab told the Karachi-based News.
‘It is useless organising and arranging long-duration camps when the top domestic competition is in progress.’
Pakistan’s national players are currently participating in the Pentangular Trophy, a provincial four-day domestic tournament, which will be followed by the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the country’s premier first-class competition.
Intikhab said even though Pakistan have played no Test cricket since early this year they have an advantage over India, who have played 11 Tests, including the ongoing one in Delhi, as well as four ODI series.
‘[India] must be feeling exhausted by the time they play the series against Pakistan starting at the turn of year. By the time the Indians will be here, the probables after playing good and hard domestic cricket would be in a better position to deliver.’
Intikhab, who coached Pakistan during their victorious World Cup campaign in 1992 and then again in 2000, said the job was about man management.
‘Most of the boys emerging to the forefront already have the knowledge of basic coaching.
‘What a coach does is to make slight adjustments in the technique of a player if he goes wrong somewhere or to work mentally on him if he has got a habit of committing the same mistake regularly.
‘A coach is the one who earns respect from the boys leading by example. Cricket is all about discipline, patience and training and learning in a friendly atmosphere.’
Intikhab said he was fortunate to have played alongside Ijaz Butt, the current Pakistan board chairman.
‘It is always easy to do your job when you feel you would not get interrupted.’
Windies name squad for NZ tour
Agence France-Presse . Kingston
Four newcomers, including Australian-born Brendon Nash, were on Friday named in the West Indies cricket side for an upcoming tour of New Zealand.
Chris Gayle was retained as captain while Ramnaresh Sarwan will be his deputy on the West Indies roster that will play Tests at Dunedin on December 11-15 and Napier on December 19-23 plus two Twenty20 and five one-day matches.
The Test squad for New Zealand is: Chris Gayle (Captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (Vice Captain), Lionel Baker, Carlton Baugh, Sulieman Benn, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Fidel Edwards, Leon Johnson, Xavier Marshall, Brendan Nash, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor.
The West Indies also named a one-day squad to face Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, with line-ups for the 20-20 and one-days in New Zealand to be named later.
The West Indies squad to play Pakistan will be: Chris Gayle (Captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (Vice Captain), Lionel Baker, Carlton Baugh, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Shawn Findlay, Leon Johnson, Xavier Marshall, Nikita Miller, Dave Mohammed, Brendan Nash, Daren Powell, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor.
Cotonsport turn to Cameroon legend
Milla for inspiration
Agence France-Presse . Cairo
African Champions League finalists Cotonsport Garoua have turned to Cameroon legend Roger Milla for inspiration before the biggest match in the 22-year history of the club.
Milla, whose exploits at the 1990 World Cup in Italy made him an instant worldwide football cult figure, arrived here with the team ahead of the first leg against hot favourites Al-Ahly of Egypt at Cairo Stadium today.
‘All of Cameroon wishes that Cotonsport return home with a satisfactory result. They deserve to win the trophy and I will be supporting them until the final whistle,’ Milla told reporters.
At the age of 38, Milla was plucked from the obscurity of football on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion to score four goals at Italia 90 as Cameroon became the first quarter-finalists from Africa.
He featured again at the World Cup four years later, scoring against Russia at the age of 42, but that was where the fairytale ended as the ‘Indomitable Lions’ slumped 6-1 and made a humiliating first round exit.
Although Milla played for Yaounde club Tonnerre, he is backing Cotonsport from the austere, dusty northern cotton town of Garoua as Cameroon hunt a first Champions League title since Canon Yaounde won the 1980 edition.
Ousmaila Baba, a midfielder with five goals in Africa this year, is convinced outsiders Cotonsport will shock five-time champions Ahly in the two-leg African Football Confederation club showpiece.
‘We know Ahly are a very big club but our time has come. I believe we will lift the Champions League trophy for the first time,’ he told the Cotonsport Garoua website.
Coach Alain Ouombleon, the Nicolas Anelka-lookalike from the Ivory Coast who succeeded Frenchman Denis Lavagne after one round of the mini-league phase, says no special preparations have been made for the final.
‘We studied how Ahly played in the semi-finals and planned accordingly. There is no doubt our opponents have a very good team and my squad want to put all their energy into making it a good final.
‘I have no intention of changing the way we do things just because it is a final, and the players are desperate to prove they deserve to be there. Anything can happen over two legs,’ warned Ouombleon.
Cotonsport captain and midfielder Ahmadou Ngomna believes his team are going to become party poopers and deny the Cairo ‘Red Devils’ a record sixth Champions League title.
‘If we have been able to defeat a number of formidable teams on our way to the final, Ahly are not going to stop us. We want to play good football and work tirelessly until the end of the second leg in Garoua.’
Fearing the commonplace ‘dirty tricks’ of African
football, Garoua shunned accommodation and other facilities offered by Ahly when they arrived in the Egyptian capital Thursday.
Transport organised by Cameroon embassy officials in Cairo took officials, coaches, support staff and footballers north to Ismailia, where they are staying at a sports village.
Kinnear sees Newcastle
D-Day approaching
Agence France-Presse . London
Newcastle United’s interim manager Joe Kinnear says he expects to know his own future this month as he fights to drag the club up the table.
The mood has lifted a little on Tyneside following Tuesday’s win over West Bromwich Albion which provided a glimmer of light down near the foot of the English Premiership.
Now Kinnear, appointed after the shock September resignation of Kevin Keegan in a dispute over transfer policy and the authority of the coach, says he expects owner Mike Ashley will hold onto the club if he cannot sell it by the time Newcastle have faced Chelsea on November 22.
That means D-Day is approaching for the former Wimbledon boss who is on a rolling monthly contract but revelling in his return to the big time.
‘I think you’ll get a statement after Chelsea,’ Kinnear said late Friday.
‘I was originally brought in for eight games and in that time-span he (Kinnear) thought the club would be sold. If it’s not, he’s got to come up with other ideas.’
United face Aston Villa on Monday and Kinnear forecast Ashley is ‘prepared to sit down and say, “okay, where do we go from here?”.
‘He might be more advised by me. I’d probably say we need four players and we maybe need to shift some out. I would advise him to go that route anyway.’
Newcastle were left in turmoil after Keegan quit for the second time in just over a decade – they just missed winning the title during his first spell in charge after famously losing out to Manchester United.
Under the former England boss they had drawn at Old Trafford on the opening day of the season and then beaten Bolton before embarking on a dismal run which the West Bromwich win halted.
‘Beating West Brom gave us a massive lift. We’d been on a dreadful run and even since I have been here we have had massive disappointments,’ Kinnear said.
‘We got done with the penalty that wasn’t against Manchester City – it was never a penalty – and we went to Everton and could have won it in the second half.’
On the plus side United are set to welcome back Michael Owen to face Villa as they look to climb the table.
Currently, they sit just one place above the relegation zone.
Coulthard prepares for
emotional exit
Agence France-Presse . Sao Paulo
Briton David Coulthard admitted Friday that the prospect of his impending retirement from Formula One has begun to hit him with emotions as he prepares for his final race in Brazil.
The 37-year-old Scot, who has raced for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull in a 15-seasons career of 246 races, will climb into an F1 car for the last time prior to Sunday’s 71-laps race.
He said: ‘It did not really strike me at all until I went to the airport – that was when I began to realise what was happening.
‘Before that, I wasn’t thinking about it and then I left last Thursday to go to Argentina for a promotion.
‘Karen – my fiancee – took me to the airport as normal and it was only when I was just about to get in the car that I realised I’d be leaving home as a Grand Prix driver, for what that’s worth, and be coming back as an ex-driver.
‘That’s the first time it really struck me. When I was going through the thoughts earlier in the year about whether I should make it easy for everyone rather than drag things out, it all seemed straightforward and logical.’
In his long career, after making his debut as the replacement for Ayrton Senna in the Williams team at the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, Coulthard has experienced the highs and lows.
He won 13 Grand Prix titles, but missed out on world championships and he survived life-threatening moments and a previous end of season when he believed his career was, prematurely, finished.
That was in 2004 after leaving McLaren, following a long spell with the team, and found he had no immediate takers for his experience.
‘When I was saying goodbye to the boys, before going off to the last race, I had tears,’ he said.
‘And when you’re not someone who is a tearful person, it came as a complete surprise to me. The guys at McLaren were sort of looking away respectfully.
‘It shows that I put a lot of emotion into my racing and a lot of passion for many years. And even though I don’t see myself as an outwardly emotional person, it obviously just simmers underneath.
‘I guess this Sunday might be a bit like that. I hope not, because there’s nothing worse than a grown man crying, is there?’
KP has already agreed to
be part of IPL: Modi
Cricinfo
Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, has said that only a no-objection certificate from the England board stands in the way of Kevin Pietersen participating in the Twenty20 tournament next season.
‘I am very keen for Kevin to take part in the IPL,’ Modi said in an exclusive interview to Cricinfo.TV.
‘He has already agreed to be part of it, we just need an NOC from the ECB.’
The England board is believed to have made its players available for 14 days of the IPL as part of a deal in which 20 IPL players will be released for the ECB’s proposed Twenty20 league.
‘The ECB have agreed in principle to release the players for the next season. It has, of course, strings attached,’ he said.
‘We are evaluating those strings, whether we can agree to it or not. The good news is at least the ECB has moved from the position of not allowing their players in the IPL.’
Modi also said that a trading window was introduced to provide teams ‘another opportunity’ to a hire players.
‘There may be times when teams have too many players or are in need of players,’ he said.
‘We need to give an opportunity to those teams to keep the players as a currency, so that they can get a benefit out of that by trading.’ Several major sporting leagues, including the National Football League (American football) and the English Premier League (football), are mulling over the concept of staging matches abroad and Modi said that he was keen on seeing countries other than India hosting IPL games.
‘We have a lot of international players who have a great appeal in many countries, so for us to take our league abroad would be far easier than for the NFL which has mainly American players.’
Petrova, Mattek, Wozniak
advance to Quebec semis
Agence France-Presse . Quebec
Russia’s Petrova defeated Hungary’s Melinda Czink 6-1, 6-4 while Mattek eliminated fellow American Melanie Oudin 7-6 (9/7), 6-1.
Petrova, who has dropped just 14 games in three triumphs this week, seeks her second title of the season after capturing the crown at Cincinnati in August.
Petrova’s Saturday foe will be US lucky loser Angela Haynes, who defeated France’s Nathalie Dechy 2-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.
Haynes, playing in her first WTA quarter-final, made the draw when Italian second seed Flavia Pennetta pulled out and rallied to deny unseeded Dechy her third career semi-final at the Quebec event.
Mattek will next face fifth seed Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada, who defeated Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-2.
Rossi to race in Rally of Britain
Agence France-Presse . Sapporo
Reigning MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi will switch to four wheels to take part in next month’s Rally of Britain, a spokesman for the Italian said Friday.
The eight-time motorcycling champion, who has competed in two rallies, will face his four-wheeled nemesis Sebastian Loeb, who is on course to win his fifth WRC title at this weekend’s Rally of Japan here.
Rossi, the son of a keen amateur rally driver, raced in the 2002 Rally of Britain in a Peugeot 206, and four years later placed a respectable 11th in a Suburu in the New Zealand edition.
The motor-mad Rossi has also down testing sessions in Formula One.
The Italian ace wrapped up his eighth MotoGP title in September, after beating Australian defending champion Casey Stoner in the Japanese Grand Prix.
Reigning WRC champion Loeb is trailing Finnish rival Mikko Hirvonen in the opening special stages of the Rally of Japan Friday, but with a 14-point lead the Frenchman only needs to place third to win the championship.
Polish president blasts talk of
Ukraine Euro 2012 freeze
Agence France-Presse . Warsaw
Poland’s president Lech Kaczynski on Friday rejected suggestions that neighbouring Ukraine’s preparations to co-host the 2012 European football championship with his country had ground to a halt.
‘The kind of talk that’s coming out of Ukraine seems really unfounded,’ Kaczynski told reporters.
‘I was in Donetsk two days ago and they were keen to show me that the stadium is almost ready,’ he said, referring to one of Ukraine’s Euro 2012 venues.
On Thursday, Ukraine’s Euro 2012 tournament organiser Evgeny Villinsky had said financial problems meant the country’s preparations for the tournament were on ice.
Villinsky added, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, that the global financial crisis and sloppy management were the reasons for halting work.
Kaczynski also blasted Grzegorz Lato, the newly-elected head of Poland’s football federation, the PZPN.
Lato had suggested that in the event Ukraine failed to get its act together, Poland could host Euro 2012 along with its western neighbour Germany, or even by itself.
‘Signs that suggest we could break our ties with Ukraine in this area are particularly unfortunate,’ Kaczynski said.
‘I’m writing down (Lato’s) name in my book,’ he warned. Kaczynski is often accused of bearing political grudges.
Poland’s sport minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki blamed the comments from Lato – an ex-international turned politician who was elected on Thursday on a pledge to tackle corruption in Polish football – on a ‘lack of experience’ with the media.
‘Ukraine remains our ironclad partner,’ Drzewiecki told reporters.
‘Nothing has happened to raise doubts of any kind about our joint project,’ he added.
Injuries down Federer, Nadal
Agence France-Presse . Paris
The Paris Masters was blown wide open on Friday when both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer pulled out of their quarter-finals with injuries.
Second seeded Federer was the first to go, announcing that he would not be able to take his place on the centre court as planned this evening against James Blake.
Top seed Nadal did see some action shortly afterwards but promptly withdrew with an injury to his right knee after dropping the first set 1-6 to Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko.
It was a double body blow for the prestigious tournament, which has been hit by a rash of injury withdrawals in recent years.
In the day’s opening quarter-final, Andy Murray’s hopes of making tennis history by winning three consecutive Masters Series titles were wrecked by an outstanding David Nalbandian.
The defending champion from Argentina won their quarter-final tie 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 producing the best tennis of the week as his love affair with Paris in the autumn continued.
The shocks of the day, however, concerned Federer and Nadal who had been seeded to face off in Sunday’s final in what would have been their first meeting on court since their epic Wimbledon clash in July.
The second seed, who has never won a tournament in Paris, strained his back going for a shot in his opening match on Wednesday against Sweden’s Robin Soderling and it came back overnight Thursday to haunt him.
It was the first time in his career that Federer had been forced to withdraw from a tournament after it had started and it will cast doubts over whether he will be able to defend his Masters title in Shanghai starting in nine days’ time.
‘I’d had a bad back for a couple of days – it came about against (Robin) Soderling (on Wednesday) – went away for the next match against Cilic but came back during that match and hasn’t gone away since,’ he said.
‘With overnight painkillers you sort of get over it but I just can’t play the way it is right now. Hopefully it will be fine for Shanghai.’
The withdrawal improves Blake’s chances of reaching the Masters finals and he now goes on to play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a place in the final following the Frenchman’s 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) victory over American Andy Roddick in the late match.
It was in the second set that Tsonga showed courage, saving at least 10 break points. Roddick got a break of service ahead in the third set but Tsonga once more came back to take the victory.
‘Thanks to everyone for having supported me right to the end,’ Tsonga told the crowd afterwards.
To go to Shanghai, starting on November 9, Tsonga must beat Blake and hope that Nalbandian loses to Davydenko in the other semi-final, or Tsonga must beat Nalbandian in the final to get his ticket to China.
Nadal said that he had felt a pain in his knee at the start of the tournament and that it had got worse on Thursday.
‘Today when I wake up I feel it a lot,’ he said.
‘I had no power in my right leg for play with the backhand and I was never going to win a match like this. Hopefully I will be fine for Shanghai but you never know.’
Nalbandian played some of the best tennis of his career at this same tournament here last year, defeating both Federer and Nadal in straight sets on his way to clinching back-to-back Masters titles.
And the Paris air appears to have lifted his spirits again as he saw off Murray, who had won the last two ATP tournaments in Madrid and St Petersburg and who had a chance here to become the first man to win three consecutive Masters Series titles after Cincinnati and Madrid.
Nalbandian broke first in the fourth game of the first set to lead 3-1, but he promptly gave that back in the following game with some sloppy play.
A tried-looking Murray was hanging on grimly and took the set into a tie-break but he fell quickly behind in that and never looked like turning the tables as he has done so often in recent games.
Nalbandian jumped out into a 2-0 lead in the second set only for Murray to get back on level terms again, but when
the 21-year-old Scot dropped his serve again in the next game the writing was clearly on the wall.
‘The standard of points was excellent,’ Murray said. ‘I am obviously disappointed to lose but I’m glad that I played against a guy as good as him and it took him playing a great match to beat me.
‘The tie-break I didnt serve particularly well. That was probably the one thing that cost me the first set.’
Nalbandian, who next plays Nikolay Davydenko for a place in the final, agreed that it been ‘a great match.’
He added: ‘It was lucky that I won in two sets because it was very tough for both of us.’
Scolari searches for
Chelsea’s X-factor
Agence France-Presse . London
Luiz Felipe Scolari wants to buy a flair player in January after admitting Chelsea have struggled to break down teams who set out to frustrate them.
As Scolari watched Chelsea fail to unlock Liverpool’s obdurate defence last weekend, the Blues boss could have been forgiven for casting his mind back to the club’s failure to sign Robinho in pre-season.
He knew Robinho’s off-the-cuff skills would have added a much-needed X-factor to a squad high on perspiration but sometimes low on inspiration.
But the Brazilian’s compatriot opted for a deadline day move to Manchester City after Chelsea refused to match Real Madrid’s asking price.
On the face of it Chelsea have hardly suffered without Robinho; they are flying high in the Premier League and remain firmly on course for the Champions League second round ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Roma.
But Scolari has taken note of the way Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham have all emerged with a point or more from Stamford Bridge this season.
Faced with defensive opposition, Scolari believes Chelsea are too easily frustrated and he is more convinced than ever that a playmaker in Robinho’s mould is essential when the transfer window reopens.
‘When I started here at Chelsea, I said I wanted one player who is different, someone who’ll try something different when we play against teams who close us down,’ Scolari said.
‘It’s easier for us to play away from home because opponents open up more and give us more chances.
‘Clubs that play at Stamford Bridge play defensively, with eight or nine at the back. They come here to play for a draw and, if it’s possible, score from a corner, a foul or a counter-attack.
‘We’re not creating very good situations to get in front of goal against them. Many times, we have opportunities, maybe two, three or four, but we make a mistake, shoot wide, high or don’t pass very well.’
Chelsea’s 4-3-3 formation has been stymied too easily for Scolari’s liking at the Bridge and he is searching for a Plan B, but that change in tactics needs a different type of player.
‘I want what I said when I arrived here. I need two or three systems to play, not only one,’ he said.
‘I have good players for one system, but I need sometimes to change my system. Now I need to work every day in the pitch here to change and improve, to make something different.
‘For this, I need different players because sometimes it’s impossible to attack. We need to stop the ball in the middle, hold the ball near the area and receive fouls.
‘The characteristics for some of the players in our team aren’t like this.
‘I want people to dribble more and hold the ball in front of the full-backs because, if we do that, they’ll kick us and we’ll have fouls. I have players like Deco, (Frank) Lampard who can exploit that.’
With the global credit crunch reportedly erasing a substantial chunk of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s wealth, Scolari is unlikely to have millions to spend in January.
But he insists a loan deal for a player with the right creative credentials would be just as effective as splashing out on a star.
‘We don’t need to spend money. We have other opportunities. If I let one player go, I can bring one in. It’s a business now – though not a business for me, but for the board,’ he said.
‘If it’s possible, I’ll change one or two players in January, or I’ll receive one or two players by business. Maybe I want a player at another club who’s not playing. Maybe they’ll loan him to us.’
Benitez backing Maradona
Agence France-Presse . Liverpool
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is relishing the prospect of new Argentina boss Diego Maradona’s visit to England next week.
Maradona is due in the UK from Sunday to meet Liverpool’s Javier Masherano and Manchester United’s Carlos Tevez and may take in Liverpool’s home Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
Benitez said: ‘I talked to Mascherano about Maradona’s appointment, he is delighted. And I have also spoken with the Argentina federation, and everything is okay for Diego to come to Liverpool. ‘Everybody will have the chance to talk, and to discuss the future for Javier and the national team.’
Benitez believes Maradona was the right choice to lead the Argentine national team.
‘Nobody can ever doubt the quality of Maradona as a player, but I think he will do well as a manager.
‘He will find that it is different as a manager, but he has a technical director with plenty of experience and they are trying to bring in some ex-players who have experience as managers to help him.
‘That sort of staff around him will make it easier, he will have plenty of help and it will be a very interesting situation.’
He added: ‘I know when Javier was told about the appointment he was excited, and very pleased.
‘I do not know whether Maradona will be here for the Madrid game, but I suppose it is possible. There are several good Argentinians in their squad for him to see.
‘Diego will be very welcome to come to our training ground next week, and to see the match. Maybe I can persuade him to take a few free-kicks!’
Benitez is a huge fan of Maradona, who also attended Liverpool’s famous Champions League final victory over AC Milan in Istanbul in 2005.
Benitez said: ‘We are about the same age, he had a great impact on me as a player. I watched him when he was at Napoli and Barcelona. He was absolutely amazing in Naples.
‘You talk to the people there and they tell you he is “God” which just underlines what everybody knows, he was a fantastic player.
‘I think it is an exciting appointment. If he has the right people around him it will be really good for Argentina.’
Ballack remains captain: Low
Agence France-Presse . Berlin
Chelsea star Michael Ballack will remain as Germany captain despite his criticism of Joachim Low, national coach Low announced on Friday.
Ballack had flown from London to Frankfurt on Thursday to apologise directly to Low for a newspaper interview last week in which he said the coach should show his senior players more loyalty and respect after veteran midfielder Torsten Frings was dropped.
Ballack, 32, apologised last weekend in a press release, but Low insisted the Chelsea midfielder fly to the German Football Federation offices in Frankfurt to meet face-to-face on Thursday and explain his comments.
Munich newspaper Abendzeitung claimed on Thursday that Ballack was set to resign as Germany captain, but remain in the team with Bayern Munich defender Philipp Lahm taking over as captain.
‘Michael Ballack will remain as captain,’ Low said, however, on Friday after the German football fraternity had been waiting eagerly for a decision since much earlier in the day.
It seemed Low had wanted to take his time on making this important decision for a team which under-performed at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland during the summer.
‘Even a captain has to respect the rules,’ added Low. ‘He (Ballack) knows he can discuss an internal situation at any time. But all the sporting and selection decisions will in the final analysis be taken by our team of coaches and I made that known to Michael without the slightest trace of ambiguity.’
Ballack, who has played 89 times for Germany, said: ‘I understand that it was not appropriate for me to express myself in public and I am sorry that that gave the impression that I wanted to criticise Low in his role as coach. I told him I was sorry.’
Ballack, who was named captain by former coach Jurgen Klinsmann in August 2004 to succeed keeper Oliver Kahn, had already said he was sorry last week but Low still wanted a meeting with him before taking a decision on his future. Many football observers apparently believed Low had little choice but to keep Ballack in his role as skipper.
Legendary German player Franz Beckenbauer summed up that feeling by saying: ‘Ballack is the best player we have at the moment, the only one of real world class. He has become a really good captain these last few years. A coach cannot do without such a player.’
With less than two years to go to the World Cup in South Africa, Ballack is seen generally as a key figure in their attempt to regain the glory days of their 1990 World Cup victory.
Germany’s next match is a November 19 friendly against England in Berlin.
Ferguson cool over Calderon
Agence France-Presse . Manchester
Sir Alex Ferguson’s dispute with Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon escalated on Friday as the Manchester United manager responded to the latest insult to come from Spain.
Calderon used a Madrid-based newspaper sympathetic to his club to describe Ferguson as ‘senile’, after the United manager referred to Real’s historic links with former Spanish dictator Franco.
Relations between what are, arguably, the two biggest football clubs in the world have been strained in the wake of Real’s summer pursuit of United winger Cristiano Ronaldo.
And while Ferguson claimed he did not want to become embroiled in a war of words with his bitter rival on Friday, he could not resist a short, sharp response.
‘He has a few strange things to say every week,’ said Ferguson of Calderon.
‘There is a lot of hot air comes out of that man and I’m not going to get involved in it.
‘I think he is very disappointed not to get Ronaldo and I’m delighted to say he is still here. I’ll keep saying that.’
Ferguson had kinder words, however, for another international football figure as he responded to reports that Diego Maradona is expected in Manchester – possibly as early as Saturday when United take on Hull City in the Premiership – to check on the form of United forward Carlos Tevez.
Maradona, Argentina’s national team coach in waiting, is reportedly eager to check on Tevez’s form at the first available opportunity and he is assured a warm welcome from Ferguson.
‘We have had no application for the game from the Argentine FA and Carlos hasn’t heard anything,’ said Ferguson.
‘But I think he will be an inspirational figure to the team. He is bringing in (Carlos) Bilardo as his assistant and the experience of Bilardo will be good for Maradona.
‘Listening to Tevez talk, all the players are delighted, Carlos is over the moon that Maradona is on board so it can work.’
United’s Wayne Rooney has also found himself in the spotlight this week and the centre of controversy after kissing the badge on his United shirt in response to abuse from Everton fans in last weekend’s draw at Goodison Park.
Rooney had been cautioned by referee Alan Wiley for a challenge on Mikel Arteta and was immediately substituted by Ferguson who was fearful he would be sent off.
Ferguson, however, has not forgiven Wiley for his handling of the matter.
Massa second and delighted,
Hamilton ninth
Agence France-Presse . Sao Paulo
Local hero Felipe Massa of Ferrari was happy with his efforts Friday after clocking the second-best time behind two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in practice for Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
The 27-year-old Sao Paulo-born Brazilian was equally delighted with both his own speed and the fact that championship-leading Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was down in ninth place.
Alonso, of Renault, threw a ‘spanner in the works’ when he clocked the fastest time in second free – but that was not as big a surprise as Hamilton’s mediocre afternoon performance.
The Renault driver, who won two of the last three races in an end of season resurgence, secured the top spot with an inspired effort in the closing seconds to outpace home hero Felipe Massa.
Massa is bidding to win and close a seven-point deficit on Hamilton.
Massa said: ‘For sure, we are much more competitive and always when you are competitive it is even better for motivation.
‘So, I think it was a good start. We were very strong, very competitive and the pace was very good. In the last race Lewis was very strong on the Friday and today it was the opposite.
‘It shows that our car is much more competitive than in Shanghai and that is for sure a very good start.
‘We don’t have any points yet, but I think we did a good job to set up the car. I think we found the direction, we found a good balance straight away.’
Asked about Hamilton, he said: ‘On a Friday we need to get ready for the battle, but it is always good to be in front. Maybe they can still improve, we need to be ready for the battle and as I said, today was a good day.’
Massa added: ‘We need the weather, we need Fernando and we need the BMWs. So we need everything to come together for me to have a chance.’
Hamilton who needs to finish only fifth or better to become the youngest champion and the first black champion in F1 history, finished up with the ninth best time after a session spent evaluating tyres and set-ups ahead of the race.
He said: ‘Our car was blindingly quick this morning despite the cold weather, which made the track feel quite slippery.
‘But this afternoon we focused on our race pace - but we were interrupted by the threat of rain and the changeable wind direction. I flat-spotted my tyres on a couple of runs, but I’m positive that the changes we’ve made will put us in a good position for tomorrow.’
Flu-struck Italian veteran Jarno Trulli was third fastest for Toyota in the afternoon run ahead of Massa’s Ferrari team-mate outgoing champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen.
Trulli said he had risen from his sick bed to clock the third-best time after staying in his room on Thursday.
He said: ‘I was ill with the flu yesterday so I took the time to rest in order to help me recover. Today I have been feeling better and I was able to drive with no problems.
‘We had a good Friday session in general, going through the set-up work and looking at tyre choice for the race. We worked on balancing the car and we had some success.’
Hamilton was never as competitive as he had been in the morning session and lapped more than half a second slower than he had in the earlier period.
He was also not involved in the rush at the end of the session when the top time was claimed by Massa, then Trulli and German Nico Rosberg of Williams, before Alonso leapt to the top.
Much of the afternoon’s running was spoilt by steady drizzle that led to many drivers spinning on the track and it was when Alonso switched back to softer tyres for a final run that he claimed his best time.
Alonso said: ‘The day has gone well. We have been able to complete our programme without any problems and we have recorded lots of interesting data. We still need to work hard to improve the car in time for tomorrow, but I’m pleased with my day.’
Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate Finn Heikki Kovalainen was only able to clock the 15th best time as the team concentrated on their own programme of preparations rather than trade times.
Earlier, in the morning session, Massa had clocked the fastest time ahead of Hamilton.
Maradona to go on European
scouting trip
Agence France-Presse . Buenos Aires
New Argentina coach Diego Maradona will set off on a European scouting tour this weekend, an Argentinian football federation source said Friday.
The former Barcelona and Napoli star will return to the countries he played his club football in, as well as heading to Germany, to assess the Argentinian players there. Maradona makes his managerial debut in a friendly against Scotland in Glasgow on November 19, followed by a match with France in Marseille next February.
On Thursday, the new coach told a press conference: ‘I am travelling to England on Saturday to watch (Carlos) Tevez and (Javier) Mascherano play. And in Scotland I am going to make my coaching debut.’
Mascherano’s club boss, Liverpool’s Rafael Benitez, on Friday welcomed Maradona’s plans to come to England, saying he would roll out the red carpet.
‘Diego will be very welcome to come to our training ground next week, and to see the match. Maybe I can persuade him to take a few free-kicks!’
Maradona was confirmed as the new coach on Monday to replace Alfio Basile, who resigned after a World Cup qualifying defeat to Chile left them trailing group leaders Paraguay.
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