Anil Kumble’s fitness remained a worry for India as Australia grappled with injury problems of their own heading into the second Test here today.
   Kumble, the inspirational Indian skipper who turns 38 today, said he was hopeful of playing but would take a final call only on the morning of the match.
   ‘It (injury) is definitely a lot better than what it was yesterday,’ the leg-spinner said at a media conference at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium on Thursday.
   ‘I bowled some overs in the nets today. There are still 24 hours to go for the match and we will take a final call on my availability tomorrow morning.
   The veteran bowler was saddled by poor form and fitness in the drawn first Test in Bangalore where he toiled for 51 wicketless overs, triggering a debate on whether it was time for him to retire.
   Kumble, India’s most successful bowler ever with 616 wickets from 131 Tests, hit back at his critics and declared he would quit on his own terms.
   Australia, seeking to go 1-0 up in the four-Test series, were coping with the injury-induced absence of frontline bowler Stuart Clark.
   Clark failed to recover from a sore elbow joint and was replaced by uncapped 23-year-old paceman Peter Siddle who has taken 43 wickets from 12 first-class games.
   Siddle’s inclusion would mean Australia having four squad members who have played less than five Tests.
   All-rounder Shane Watson and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin have played four Tests while spinner Cameron White made his debut in Bangalore.
   Australian captain Ricky Ponting, however, dismissed the inexperienced tag.
   ‘A lot has been made about inexperience in our ranks leading to the first Test,’ he said.
   ‘But all these inexperienced guys showed they are more than capable of holding their own at the international level. Of course it helps if you have played some cricket in this part of the world.
   ‘But we have 11 players now and we have to think about them.’
   Ponting said he hoped his bowlers would deny Sachin Tendulkar his impending milestone. Tendulkar needs just 15 runs to overtake West Indian Brian Lara’s tally of 11,953 runs and become the world’s highest Test run getter.
   ‘Sachin is a great player. The way he batted in the second innings in Bangalore showed he still has the hunger. Hopefully our bowlers will deny him those runs. But if he gets there, we will all congratulate him.’
   Ponting’s confidence in his bowlers stemmed from the fact that the Mohali track has usually assisted seam bowling.
   ‘The rain overnight has watered the track a bit and hopefully our seamers will have more bounce and carry,’ he said.

Middle-order batsman Rajin Saleh has been recalled to the Bangladesh squad to add some experience to the side ahead of the Test series against New Zealand. And so Rajin feels he has an extra responsibility to meet the expectation the selectors demand from him. He talked to reporters at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium on Thursday ahead of the first Test. Here are the excerpts.
   Q: How does it feel returning to the side after a long time?
   RS: Of course, it is a good feeling. I played my last Test against Sri Lanka. After that, I was rested for the New Zealand and South Africa series.
   Q: Only a good feeling? Don’t you feel any added responsibility as a senior member of the side?
   RS: Responsibility was always there. But yet it should be more now, since I was called into the side as a senior player. I have just got a century in my last domestic match. It lifted my confidence, which I hope will help me do well in the Tests.
   Q: You are an in-and-out player of the Bangladesh team. How confident you are to come out form that situation?
   RS: Insha’llah, I will try my best to give the team something.
   Q: You have the second highest Test average for Bangladesh. Still, you had to sit at the dressing room in so many matches. How painful it was for you?
   RS: No doubt, it gave me a pain that I sat in the dressing room as a batsman. But I had no other choices.
   Q: How prepared you are to face the bowling attack of New Zealand?
   RS: During the last Ramadan I have had a lot a practice. I worked on my weaknesses and now I am more confident than ever.
   Q: You did not have many opportunities to mingle with coach Jamie Siddons. Did he really help you at any time?
   RS: It’s true that I did not get him much of the time. Still, he advised me to keep on playing my natural game when I was in the preliminary camp.
   Q: After your last Test at Kandy, what did you do during the long gap?
   RS: I had some problems with my front-and back-foot shots. I tried to rectify the blemishes. Hopefully I have done this.
   Q: Your position in the team is not settled. At this stage how will you handle the responsibility?
   RS: Everybody has his own job in the team. Maybe my duty is bigger than the others as a senior batsman. I will try my best to discharge my duties efficiently.

Pakistan’s new cricket chief on Thursday expressed his delight over the rescheduling of the Champions Trophy, saying it would open doors for more world-class cricket in the troubled nation.
   The International Cricket Council on Wednesday rescheduled the biennial eight-nation tournament, which was postponed this year amid security concerns in Pakistan, to next September.
   The ICC said the tournament would go ahead between September 24 and October 5, 2009, with the matches being played in just one city, rather than the two mooted for this year.
   Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt said it was welcome news.
   ‘Of course, it’s a big relief,’ Butt told AFP from Dubai where he attended the two-day meeting. ‘Previously there was some opposition on holding this event in Pakistan but I am happy that it was a consensus decision.’
   However ongoing security concerns forced the ICC Board to delay a final decision on the location of the event until after India’s tour to Pakistan early next year.
   Butt, who took over earlier this month after Nasim Ashraf resigned in August, said the tour by India would prepare the ground for the Champions Trophy.
   ‘Pakistan government is taking care of improving security and every step will be taken to hold the India series in a peaceful manner because that will allay fears of other countries,’ said Butt.
   Pakistan hosts India for three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match from January to February next year.
   The ICC was forced to postpone the Trophy, scheduled for last month, after South Africa pulled out of the event.
   Australia, England and New Zealand had also raised concerns.
   Australia postponed a full tour of Pakistan in March this year but agreed to reschedule the visit into two trips, and now will play five one-dayers in March 2009 and three Tests in 2010.
   Pakistan has struggled to attract foreign teams since the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001. They had to relocate two home series—against Australia and the West Indies—to neutral venues.
   New Zealand cut short a 2002 tour after a suicide bomb blast outside their Karachi hotel killed 14 people.

Embattled India skipper Anil Kumble has received a ringing endorsement from coach Gary Kirsten as he struggles with his form and fitness ahead of the second Test against Australia.
   Nursing a sore shoulder, the 37-year-old leg-spinner failed to bag a single wicket in the drawn first test at Bangalore.
   It was only the third time in his career and the first time ever in front of a home crowd he has walked away empty-handed.
   He also dropped two catches off his own bowling to cap a miserable outing and trigger a debate as to whether he was fit enough to lead the Indian side.
   However, Kirsten reaffirmed his faith in Kumble and warned Australians of a comeback from the stalwart in the second Test, which begins here on Friday.
   ‘Kumble is a warrior,’ Kirsten said here late on Wednesday.
   ‘He is alright at the moment. He has a little bit of pain but he is very keen to play. I am sure that regardless of how he is physically, he would be ready to represent his country.
   ‘We don’t look at form in one Test but over a long period of time. He is one of the greatest Indian players ever. Any champion player who struggles comes back stronger.
   ‘He is going to come back more determined than before to put in a match-winning performance. He has been doing this for the last 17 years.’
   The former South African opener also spoke about the upbeat mood in the Indian camp following their match-saving heroics in Bangalore.
   ‘As a coach or even when I was playing against them, I have never seen such strong team unity and togetherness. They are very eager to win this Test series. They have the belief that they can beat Australia.
   ‘The greatest catalyst has been the fact that we are up against the number one team in the world. No one is talking about individual records but what we can do as a team.’
   Kirsten did not rule out playing an extra fast bowler at the expense of a spinner, considering the success his seamers enjoyed in difficult conditions in the previous Test.
   ‘These are exciting times in Indian cricket. Seamers are making a contribution and affecting the course of a match and that too on any kind of wicket.
   ‘The skills that our fast bowlers showed in Bangalore has given them a lot of belief, so we are looking at different options and will decide on the final bowling combination after having another look at the Mohali wicket.’
   The Indian fast bowlers, led by left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan, gave the team crucial breakthroughs and picked 13 of the 16 Aussie wickets to fall in Bangalore.
   Kirsten heaped praise on Zaheer, who finished the match with six wickets.
   ‘Zaheer has a tremendous belief in himself, he is intelligent and understands how he must bowl in different conditions. He has great variations which comes from experience. He is a highly skilled bowler.’

Hyderabad Heroes (171/6) beat Dhaka Warriors (168/9) by 4 wickets
   It was another last-over thriller in Hyderabad. Alok Kapali hit the first ton in ICL history but finished on the losing side as the Hyderabad Heroes overhauled the target of 169 set by the Dhaka Warriors with a complete team effort.
   Hyderabad got the target down to 13 runs from the last over bowled by Farhad Reza. Chris Harris sliced the second delivery to the backward point boundary to reduce the target to 8 from 4. He launched the next one over the sightscreen before spearing the fourth ball to the extra cover boundary. Game over.
   Dhaka had almost clinched it in the penultimate over when the final turning point of the game happened. Requiring 17 runs from seven balls, Harris lifted Mohammad Rafique to the right of long-off and Reza had it seemingly covered but spilled it in the end.
   It was that kind of a night - just when you relaxed, a partnership would form and as soon as you thought Hyderabad were getting ahead, some one would get out. It was a complete tease act. It had everything: Fours, sixes, wickets, run outs and vital dropped catches.
   Jimmy Maher started with a flurry of boundaries, Abdul Razzaq bludgeoned 27 that included the shot of the night: a fierce slice off the medium-pacer Mohammad Sharif that skimmed over backward point boundary. Along with Justin Kemp he picked 19 runs in the fifth over bowled by Reza, but was cleaned up by the same bowler. When Kemp fell immediately to make it
   73 for 4, it looked as if the target was beyond Hyderabad but Stuart Binny provided the shot in the arm with four crucial boundaries in a breezy innings of 30, but again got out at the wrong time. Or so it seemed.
   The score read 115 for 5 in the 14th over; surely it was over now? However, Nicky Boje and Harris kept the game on a knife-edge. They ran hard, hit the odd boundary, kept Dhaka on their toes and had reduced the equation when Boje was run out. He turned for the second run after Harris had hit the ball to long-off but couldn’t beat the throw from Aftab Ahmed.
   At that point Hyderabad needed 28 from 15 balls and Harris expertly farmed the strike to steer his side home.
   Spare a thought for Kapali, though. In June 2008, he hit a dazzling maiden ton against India in the Asia Cup but had to finish on the losing side. It was another one-man show from him tonight. Dhaka had lost wickets in a clutch at the top before he shared a 77-run partnership with Dhiman Ghosh, whose managed just eight.
   Similar to his innings in the Asia Cup, Kapali started off slowly, offering the full face of the bat. He was out of the Bangladesh team for a long time due to his failures, which were, by his own admission, triggered by his penchant to play across the line too early in his innings. Even as he tried to settle down here, the team situation worsened by the minute.
   Kapali finally decided it was time to counterattack when Dhaka were tottering at 57 for 5. For the first time he went across the line, pulling Chris Harris for a six. He repeated the dose against the left-arm spinner Inder Shekar Reddy but it was in the 13th over, bowled by the slow bowler Pagadala Niranjan, that he really turned on the heat.
   Two exquisite shots over extra cover were sandwiched with a feisty cut and the pressure was off. Hyderabad were always going to struggle in the middle overs with the innocuous slow men Reddy and Niranjan in operation and Kapali cashed in in style.
   Harris tried the medium-pace of Syed Sahabuddin but Kapali hit him for three consecutive fours between square leg and midwicket. Harris then brought on Stuart Binny and the change almost worked but Sahabuddin dropped a top-edged skier from Kapali, who was on 71.
   Kapali began to go after Harris, hitting him to the sight screen and over the dugout for two big sixes. He brought up his hundred with a chip to midwicket, and though Reza was run out trying for the second run, there were big celebrations.

Bangladesh Hockey Federation will receive the profiles of a number of Korean coaches to select their preferred name within two or three days. This was revealed by the general secretary of the Bangladesh Hockey Federation, Khandoker Jamil Uddin, on Thursday.
   ‘We have contacted the Asian Hockey Federation’s development manager, Tayeb Ekram, regarding the Korean coach and he has extended his full support to us, he has taken the responsibility to provide the bio-data of a number of Korean coaches, so we can select one according to our needs and ability,’ said Jamil Uddin.
   Meanwhile, Jamil Uddin was happy to see that the renovation work at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium has started. ‘The lone international hockey venue of the country needed a lot of modification and renovation, the NSC and the BOA have come forward to help hockey, I am hopeful of having a well-organised stadium for all,’ said the general secretary.
   After the completion of the renovation works, the dressing rooms, the staircase and some portion of the gallery will have a new look.

The annual bridge competition of Dhaka Reporters Unity, sponsored by the Blazer BD, will begin on Saturday.
   All the interested participants have been requested to remain present at the DRU at 10:00am. Shahidul Islam will conduct the matches.

The two on-field umpires should be in charge of the review system, since they are the ones held responsible for any errors, a senior ICC official has said. The system, first trialled internationally on India’s recent tour of Sri Lanka, will be tried out in four more series over the next few months.
   Dave Richardson, the ICC’s manager for cricket operations, said there were concerns the on-field umpires were not totally in charge of referrals and left most to the third umpire. ‘The only disappointment [during the Sri Lanka series] was that the third umpire ruled the roost. We want the on-field umpires to be in total charge all the time. It’s good for the game as well as the umpires who carry the stigma for giving wrong decisions throughout their life [in the absence of such a system]. It gives them an opportunity to rectify their mistakes. It also eliminates umpiring controversies and brings back the focus [of everyone] on the game.’
   Used for the first time in England in 2007, the umpire review system received mixed reactions on its international debut. However, the ICC, at its board meeting in Dubai on Tuesday, decided on the extension to provide greater exposure to the system before permanently implementing it.
   Richardson said a 100 per cent fool-proof system was not yet possible in the absence of similar technological help. ‘I know some Indian players were not happy with the system, with Sri Lanka slightly holding an upper hand. But we were satisfied with the referral system and found out that it led to 98 per cent correct decisions being given,’ he said.
   Beginning with New Zealand’s two-Test series at home against West Indies in December, the system will also be tried out in the three-Test series between Pakistan and India the following month, the four Tests between West Indies and England beginning February and the three-Test series between South Africa and Australia starting at the same time.

The second round four-day matches in the Ispahani Mirzapore Tea 10th National Cricket League begin today at three venues across the country.
   Barisal play against Khulna at the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium, Rajshahi take on Chittagong at the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium and Sylhet lock horns with Dhaka at the Sylhet District Stadium. In the first round, Khulna was the lone team to taste a victory when they beat Sylhet by 35 runs while Rajshahi-Barisal and Dhaka-Chittagong matches ended in draws.

Ricky Ponting has said that the disappointing form of his opposing captain Anil Kumble could turn into an issue for India at the selection table in the lead-up to the second Test.
   Kumble, who turns 38 on Friday, failed to collect a wicket in the first Test and has faced intense media scrutiny about retirement plans.
   Kumble was also battling a shoulder injury in Bangalore, although he is confident he will be fit for the second Test in Mohali, which starts on Friday. But Ponting said with wet weather a concern and the Mohali pitch renowned for offering assistance to seamers, India would need to think long and hard about including two spinners.
   ‘They’re in a bit of a predicament I think with Anil being their captain,’ Ponting told the Australian. ‘If you had to look at someone who was going to go out to make way for a quick, it would probably have to be him.
   ‘Harbhajan [Singh] has a great record against Australia and is probably bowling better than Kumble at the moment so that’s where the difficulty comes. If they happen to drop Kumble it would probably be a long way back for him so it will be interesting to see what they do.’
   The rematch after the five-day draw in Bangalore will be revealing following the after-match niggle, in which Zaheer Khan said Australia had played overly defensively. But Ponting said Zaheer, who was the Man of the Match for his six wickets and first-innings half-century, should worry about his own performance.
   ‘He’s just happened to have a good game as well, which is pretty unusual for him,’ Ponting said. ‘He’s had a good game. It’s up to him to back it up again. I think a lot of his comments might have been to try and get us to play a different style and different brand of cricket.’

Cricket doyen Richie Benaud has urged Australian fans to keep the faith with the country’s band of emerging leg-spinners struggling to make their mark in the post-Warne era.
   Australian sports fans are coming to grips with life without 708-Test wicket great Shane Warne, who retired from international cricket almost two years ago.
   Benaud, 78, one of Australia’s greatest leg-spin bowlers with 248 wickets in 63 Tests before retiring to become a television cricket commentator, says it is vital for slow bowlers to be given sufficient time to master their craft.
   Cameron White is the latest leg-spinner Australia is trying at Test level in the current series in India.
   Benaud rates the 25-year-old Victorian highly and thinks he will only develop further if afforded continuing Test match experience.
   White took 1-88 from 31 overs while making his Test debut in the drawn series-opener in Bangalore after being a late call-up to the Indian tour.
   ‘I think Cameron White’s a good cricketer. I’m very keen on him doing well and people expect young cricketers suddenly to be stars overnight,’ Benaud told Australian Associated Press on Thursday.
   ‘It’s important to persevere with all young players. It’s no good putting them in for a match or two.
   ‘He’s captained Victoria for a few years and he’s got lots of experience. He’s a good batsman, a brilliant fielder and I’m hoping his bowling will continue to improve.’
   Benaud said he needed years to mature as a top-line bowler.
   He says the search to unearth the next Shane Warne could be a lengthy one.
   ‘Warne’s been the best legspinner that I’ve ever seen,’ Benaud said.
   ‘There’s not an obsession there (to find the next Warne), but everyone would like someone to come up as Warne did virtually from nowhere.’

Carlos Tevez, the Manchester United forward who appears to have the most to lose from the signing of Dimitar Berbatov, has made a candid admission that he is dissatisfied with his level of performance and accepts Sir Alex Ferguson’s reasons for shunting him down the pecking order.
   Tevez has scored only once for United this season in six starts and a further three substitute appearances, and the Argentina international admitted being perplexed and disappointed by his lack of goals. ‘I am not as dangerous as I used to be,’ he said. ‘I am not as effective in the penalty area any more. That is something I have lost and something I have to get back. I used to score better goals, great goals. But something strange has happened.’
   It seems a harsh self-assessment given that Tevez was United’s player of the month for August, but the 24-year-old did not score in that period and is also in the midst of a dispiritingly barren run for his national team, having failed to find the target in a competitive match since a Copa América tie against the United States 16 months ago and having been sent off twice in the World Cup qualifying campaign.
   His record of seven goals in 43 internationals is disappointing, and Argentina’s coach, Alfio ‘Coco’ Basile, has already spoken to him about what is going wrong. ‘Coco has said he wants to see more of the old Carlos,’ said Tevez. ‘I have to try to get back to my previous level, and I do have confidence that I will.’
   ‘I think, firstly, that it might have something to do with the fact that whoever plays up front these days has to do a lot more for the team than just score goals,’ he said. ‘They have to play more for the team and I think I have sacrificed myself recently with regards to that.’ He added: ‘I also think it is something to do with the quality of [Premier League] defenders. They are strong and big and that makes it difficult for somebody up front.’

Plans by world soccer’s governing body FIFA to impose quotas on foreign players at clubs would be good for the game but are doomed to failure, former Italy great Dino Zoff has said.
   FIFA President Sepp Blatter won backing for his controversial ‘6+5 rule’, which would limit the number of foreigners who can start a match to five, at a congress in May.
   However, the concept clashes with European Union rules on the free movement of workers and Zoff sees no way over this hurdle.
   ‘The world is globalised so it’s impossible to close frontiers to foreign players,’ the 66-year-old former goalkeeper told Reuters.
   ‘It would be good to have more balance, to put the brakes on globalisation a little, so that not all teams are made up entirely of foreigners and there’s a percentage of domestic players.
   ‘But European law does not allow it. This path cannot be taken. Nothing can be done.’
   Zoff is glad the trend of English Premier League clubs being bought by rich foreign owners has not reached Serie A.
   ‘I hope things continue as they are,’ said the captain of Italy’s 1982 World Cup-winning team and the coach of the Azzurri side that reached the Euro 2000 final.
   ‘In England lots of club owners are foreigners while this hasn’t happened yet in Italy. Foreigners would be well accepted, I’ve got nothing against them, but if we can do things ourselves with people in Italy who invest in soccer, so much the better.’
   Zoff was speaking at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation before Wednesday’s presentation of the new ‘Football Against Hunger’ campaign being run with the Association of European Professional Football Leagues.
   ‘As I’m a recognised figure, I hope my presence will encourage the public to think about the problem of hunger,’ he said. ‘We have to do something and I hope my name will get people to consider the state of things and address the problem.’
   Former Italy forward Roberto Baggio is also a sponsor of the awareness and fund-raising campaign.
   ‘Hunger is not an inevitable ill,’ Baggio told a news conference.
   ‘We must feel like modern heroes and heroines to fight and win this modern battle. Our generation can eradicate hunger.’

Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta said he expected more of himself despite being heaped with praise for a sublime equaliser in Spain’s World Cup qualifying victory over Belgium, a win which maintained their winning start.
   The 24-year-old midfielder raced through, dummied the keeper and coolly finished from the tightest of angles.
   ‘It was very impressive watching him score the goal from the pitch. But it isn’t only the goal he scored, his play was magnificent,’ Spain striker David Villa, who scored the late winner, said.
   Coach Vicente del Bosque added: ‘Iniesta is a great player and he deserved the goal. It was fantastic. All of us in the dressing room thought it was the best (goal) of the season.’
   ‘I was pleased with the goal. The keeper expected me to pull it back, but luckily I had enough room to change feet and score,’ he said.
   ‘I don’t think it was my best match. I had some good moments, but there were other moments were I failed.’

Winger Piotr Trochowski is reveling in his elevated role at the heart of Germany’s attack having gone from the Euro 2008 substitutes bench to leading the charge towards World Cup 2010 qualification.
   The diminutive Hamburg forward scored his first goal for die Mannschaft on his 17th appearance in Germany’s 1-0 win over Wales on Wednesday night which put his side top of Group Four with a four-point lead after four games.
   The 24-year-old has played in all five Germany matches since Euro 2008, where he was in the squad but failed to make a single appearance, and says part of his success this season is down to new Hamburg coach Martin Jol.
   The former Tottenham Hotspur coach succeeded fellow Dutchman Huub Stevens as boss of the north German club during the summer and Trochowski says Jol’s preference for attacking football has helped put the team top of the Bundesliga.
   After Dutch star Rafael van der Vaart quit Hamburg during the summer for Real Madrid, Trochowski has taken over the vacant play-maker role and is enjoying the extra work.
   ‘There have been important changes, because under Huub Stevens we played more defensively,’ the Poland-born winger told German agency SID.
   ‘After the change of trainer, I could play more offensively, which suited my game and gave me extra freedom.’ And Trochowski’s extra confidence has not gone unnoticed by Germany coach Joachim Low.
   ‘His development is very positive in principle,’ said Low.
   ‘This season he is playing with more self-confidence and he has made a huge leap forward as a play-maker.’
   Low also said he was impressed with Trochowski’s attitude despite not being selected for Euro 2008.
   Such is the Hamburg winger’s work rate that his Germany midfield team-mate Bastian Schweinsteiger joked he had less work to do. ‘At one point during the game, I wondered if there would ever be a need to shoot on goal again,’ he said with a grin, referring to the numerous chances Trochowski created against the Welsh.
   For Low, the Hamburg winger just represents another attacking option for Germany.
   ‘I told him he underlines his actions with a shot or a good pass,’ said Low. ‘His biggest strength is that he is dangerous on the left or the right side.’
   Germany play England in a friendly on November 19 in Berlin and will play their remaining six World Cup qualifiers next year.

Spain’s government has been lobbying UEFA to force a rethink of a ban on Atletico Madrid staging next week’s home Champions League tie against Liverpool, the prime minister said Thursday.
   Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos had made a direct appeal to UEFA president Michel Platini to allow Wednesday’s game to go ahead at the Vicente Calderon stadium while the interior ministry had also tried to persuade Europe’s governing body to have a rethink.
   UEFA on Tuesday ordered Atletico to play their next two European matches at a stadium at least 300 kilometres (200 miles) from Madrid as punishment for crowd disturbances and racist insults against Marseille players during a Champions League match on October 1.
   ‘The government has been concerned by this decision
   and has been in direct with UEFA,’ Zapatero told journalists on the sidelines of an EU summit.
   ‘Minister Moratinos talked to Mr Platini while the interior ministry is preparing to send UEFA a full explanation on why the police action was correct.
   ‘We want them to understand that they have come to a decision on the basis of incorrect information.’
   The decision has caused consternation not only with Atletico but also Liverpool, with thousands of fans having paid for flights to watch their star striker Fernando Torres return to his old club.
   Spanish sports daily Mundo Deportivo has reported that UEFA is poised to announce
   that the match could go ahead in Madrid after all because
   of the logistical difficulty of staging it elsewhere at such short notice.

Brazil’s players were left fishing for explanations after being held 0-0 by visiting Colombia on Wednesday, their second goalless stalemate at home in the World Cup qualifiers in just over a month.
   The five-times world champions also failed to beat Bolivia in Rio de Janeiro last month, but in contrast have won their last two away matches and scored seven goals in the process.
   In what has become a sad ritual, the home crowd shouted ‘Ole’ when Colombia had possession in the second half, jeered coach Dunga and filed out of the Maracana stadium before the end.
   Kaka blamed the 15-hour journey home following Sunday’s 4-0 win away to Venezuela in San Cristobal, western Venezuela, for Brazil’s lethargy.
   ‘I don’t exactly know the reason but our team felt the fatigue and we weren’t fast enough,’ he said. ‘I don’t like to make excuses but the journey took its toll. There are other reasons but the journey was certainly one of them.’
   Forward Robinho was crest-fallen after being substituted and insulted by the crowd in the second half. ‘I didn’t play well, I was bad, I didn’t manage one dribble or shot on goal,’ the Manchester City player told reporters. ‘I wasn’t the player I always hope to be.
   ‘We are a long way from what we could be, from the Brazilian football which has always been strong in attack.’
   Dunga, who fielded three tackling specialists alongside Kaka in midfield, was defiant, pointing to his team’s comfortable position in the 10-team South American qualifying group.
   ‘We are in second place and I think this is all a bit exaggerated,’ he snapped. ‘Of course we didn’t play well but we need to be a little more balanced, it seems as if we are last.
   ‘The opponents managed to mark our team and nullify our attack by closing up. We couldn’t penetrate the Colombian defence.’

Fabio Capello has hailed England’s unprecedented perfect start to a World Cup qualifying campaign as a victory for hard work and team spirit, although he did acknowledge that Wayne Rooney’s current form had helped make his job easier.
   A 3-1 win over Belarus here, in which Rooney made it five goals in three matches with a decisive second-half double, left England well down the road to South Africa 2010 after four wins from four in group six, which they head by five points from Croatia.
   ‘This is an important result because as I said before the game it was a very important game for us, against one of the strongest teams in the group,’ Capello said.
   ‘Belarus played very well in the first half. We had a good performance up front but what was very important is that we played like a team.
   ‘There is no secret—it is about work, creating a group, creating the mentality and the confidence. This is very important because the players are very good players.
   ‘I had seen Belarus play against Germany, Argentina and Ukraine and I knew what they were capable of.
   ‘But in that first half they expended a lot of energy and in the second we were better.
   ‘I was delighted with the movement of Wayne Rooney and Emile Heskey. They are both quick and strong and know what is required.
   ‘Wayne is very important for us at this moment - but this was not only about Wayne Rooney, or Emile Heskey, or Steven Gerrard or Wayne Bridge who also did well.
   ‘It is not easy to play against these teams but what pleased me is that we were compact and performed like a group.’
   Capello cautioned that qualification for South Africa was far from in the bag—a not unreasonable claim given England’s recent problems in performing to their full potential at Wembley.
   ‘It is a very important victory but for me it is only one more step along the way,’ the Italian emphasised. ‘We do have confidence now and that is a very important thing but there are more games to be won before we can say we are through to South Africa.’
   Belarus’s German coach, Bernd Stange, said Rooney’s first goal, five minutes after half-time, had turned the match.
   ‘In the first half, I felt it was the best we have ever played in Minsk but it was still not good enough to get a result against England.
   ‘They are strong and powerful and I felt their second goal broke our team totally.’
   Stange said that Belarus had also missed Barcelona midfielder Alexander Hleb. ‘Fabio Capello has five or six good players for every position. We do not have such a variety of good players.’
   From the outset, Rooney was at the centre of England’s best work, teeing up Gerrard to open the scoring after 10 minutes.
   Cutting in from the left, the Liverpool midfielder’s shot from fully 30 yards was placed rather than driven into the bottom corner.
   It was exactly the start required by both Gerrard, who had admitted before the match that his place in Capello’s starting XI was on the line, and England.
   But the initiative was quickly surrendered and Belarus equalised when Pavel Sitko headed in Ihar Stasevich’s chip at the end of a 23-pass move.
   England were far sharper after the break and, when Heskey got round the back of the Belarus defence wide on the left, Rooney finished off his low cross with a deft sidefoot finish.
   Then, with quarter of an hour left, Gerrard played a first-time ball into the box for Rooney, who neatly sidestepped a challenge before dinking the ball over the goalkeeper.
   A reassuring night for Gerrard should have been capped by a second goal but after going round the goalkeeper with three minutes left the Liverpool midfielder clipped what should have been a routine finish against the post.

Critics Thursday accused the French government of overreacting after immigrant youths booed the national anthem at a football match against Tunisia, as the country simmered with outrage over the incident.
   ‘Indignation!’, ‘An affair of state!’ splashed newspaper front pages, while a poll in Le Parisien showed 80 percent of people were ‘shocked’ to see the Paris Stade de France erupt into jeers at Tuesday’s France-Tunisia game.
   President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government issued a stark warning to football fans on Wednesday, saying it would call off future games if the ‘Marseillaise’ is jeered again, amid a chorus of outrage from the political establishment.
   But critics dismissed the idea as unworkable and dangerous.
   ‘At what point do you stop the match? After 1,000 jeers, 5,000, 10,000?’ asked opposition Socialist deputy Elisabeth Guigou, while a spokesman for Europe’s football governing body UEFA, William Gaillard, called it unrealistic.
   ‘If you stop a game after the national anthem is jeered,
   there is no doubt there will be violence in the stadium and across the area,’ warned the pro-government le Figaro newspaper.
   Three years after the riots in France’s poor city suburbs, the case revived concerns that many second- and third-generation immigrants from north Africa still feel excluded from mainstream society.
   Similar incidents marred French games against Algeria in 2001 and Morocco in 2007, when large chunks of the stadium jeered the ‘Marseillaise.’
   ‘Yeah, I whistled,’ 15-year-old Eldeterr—the rapper’s stage name—was quoted as telling the left-wing newspaper Liberation. ‘And I’ll tell you why: I can’t love a country that doesn’t love us back.’
   But France’s housing minister Fadela Amara, who is of north African origin, said the behaviour cast ‘shame on their parents’ and the five-million-strong Muslim community, and demanded ‘exemplary’ punishment.
   ‘Enough talking about social malaise and the problems with integration. We have to stop finding excuses for them,’ she told Le Parisien.
   Officials have opened a judicial inquiry for ‘outrage’ against the national anthem or flag—in theory an offence punishable by a hefty fine and up to six months in jail under a 2003 law that has never been applied.
   Liberation said the ‘overblown indignation of certain ministers... borders on the ridiculous.’
   Malek Boutih, a senior Socialist official and former head of SOS Racism, also accused politicians of ‘overplaying’ their outrage.
   ‘It’s true some symbols of the republic are not too popular in the suburbs. But politicians would make better use of their intelligence by focusing on the economic crisis instead of this marginal case.’
   When France won the 1998 World Cup, the immigrant suburbs poured onto the Champs Elysees to celebrate, cheering and wrapped in the national flag, he pointed out.
   Meanwhile critics poured scorn on Junior Sports Minister Bernard Laporte for suggesting France should no longer play north African teams at home.
   ‘Absurd, ridiculous,’ charged the Socialist Guigou, urging the government to ‘keep things in proportion.’

Argentina coach Alfio Basile had no complaints about his side’s 1-0 defeat to Chile in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday, saying their opponents appeared to have 15 players on the pitch.
   ‘There are no excuses,’ said Basile, under increasing pressure after a run of disappointing results. ‘Sometimes it’s just the case the opposition played better than you did.
   ‘I have never seen a performance like this from Chile, it was amazing how much running they did, they were like a machine and pressed us in every part of the pitch and didn’t let us settle.
   ‘It seemed like there were 15 of them against 11 of us. We thought they would get tired in the second half but they kept going very well.
   ‘We had a bit more possession in the second half but in general Chile dominated.’
   Basile said Argentina had sorely missed mercurial playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme, who was suspended.
   ‘We missed him and without Riquelme we couldn’t play the way we always play,’ said Basile.
   He denied that the game had been a personal battle against Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa, who was in charge of Argentina from 1998 to 2004.
   ‘They have a great coach,’ said Basile. But for some reason the media have turned this into a confrontation.’

The established order was respected in Europe on Wednesday night as top nations Italy, England, Germany and Spain all claimed victories to round off the year’s 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
   England had the most to smile about as their 3-1 victory in Belarus meant they had won four matches out of four, while Germany beat Wales 1-0, world champions Italy had a 2-1 win over Montenegro, and European champions Spain won 2-1 in Belgium.
   On a worse note for Spain and his Liverpool club, Fernando Torres suffered a torn muscle in his thigh after being taken off in the match in Brussels.
   Spain team doctor Oscar Celada said on Spanish television: ‘He has intense pain in the back part of the thigh. It is difficult to diagnose now exactly the extent, if it is a question of a strain or a small tear. If it is a strain then he could be out for about a week.’
   The discplined regime of Fabio Capello has spelt an unblemished reign at the helm of England so far, a far cry from the previous tenure of Steve McClaren, who was a great number two under Sven-Goran Eriksson but had problems coming into the hotseat and failed to get qualification for Euro 2008.
   Capello said he was delighted with the performance lit up by a Wayne Rooney double and Steven Gerrard’s opener.
   ‘I am very happy because as I said before the game it was a very important game for us.
   ‘Belarus are a good team and they played very well in the first half. We had a good performance up front but what was very important is that we played like a team.
   ‘If we want to win, we have to play like a team, not like single players. It is very important and tonight I saw one team.
   ‘There is no secret—it is about work, creating a group, creating the mentality and the confidence. This is very important because the players are very good players.’
   The win left England five points clear of Croatia at the top of the group, but Capello was taking nothing for granted in the wake of England’s failure to reach Euro 2008.
   ‘It is another step, an important victory but we have more games to play to go to South Africa,’ the Italian cautioned.
   No more qualifiers till the spring means players can concentrate on club football, have a Christmas break, then get back into World Cup action on March 28, though a few nations have games in February.
   Rio Ferdinand, who captained the side in the absence of the injured John Terry, added: ‘The half-time talk was quite simple. He said push up from the back and keep competing.
   ‘You think it is going to
   be rocket science with a foreign manager but he keeps it
   simple and that is one of his strengths.’
   Joachim Low’s Germany side took a sizeable step towards claiming the single guaranteed place at South Africa 2010 from Group Four with three more points against a spirited Welsh side.
   Winger Piotr Trochowski unleashed a superb second-half strike to seal the 1-0 win to put them four points clear.
   ‘We are really pleased to have finished the year with six points from the win over Russia (last Saturday) and Wales, it puts us in a good position for next year,’ said Low.
   Their third win from four qualifying games means Germany are now on ten points with Russia - who beat Finland 3-0 in Moscow on Wednesday - and plucky Wales lagging behind on six each, but Germany wasted a string of chances.
   ‘We failed to score an early goal and made life a bit hard for ourselves,’ said captain Michael Ballack after the win over Wales. ‘In the first-half, we lacked the concentration and a bit of finishing, but things were better in the second-half.’
   Alberto Aquilani netted a brace as unconvincing Italy edged out Montenegro 2-1 in Group Eight.
   AS Roma striker Mirko Vucinic made a goalscoring return to Lecce, where he played for five years but he left disappointed as UEFA’s newest nation lost their first ever competitive away match.
   It means Italy remain unbeaten and in control of the group with 10 points from four games but once again they failed to set pulses racing and it was only a wildly deflected shot that won the match.
   Spanish striker David Villa, who hit a late winner in their 2-1 win against Belgium, was delighted with their victory in Brussels. ‘This victory was very important and was a serious test for us. We absolutely just had to get the three points,’ Villa said.
   And on his goal, his 23rd which put him level with the same haul for Spain as Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano, Villa added: ‘These types of statistics are always nice to know. But I think the main thing was that the goal meant we earned three points against a very solid team.’

Paraguay streaked six points clear in the South American World Cup qualifying standings with a goal claimed by both Edgar Benitez and Oscar Cardozo nine minutes from time enough to edge Peru 1-0 at the Estadio Defensores del Chaco.
   Benitez got the crucial touch with his left foot for a strike which sent the crowd into raptures as Paraguay moved onto 23 points from 10 games - six clear of an inconsistent Brazil, who could only draw 0-0 at home to Colombia in Rio.
   But even Brazil were on form compared with a lacklustre Argentina, who went down to a first-half goal from debutant midfielder Fabian Orellana which brought Chile a 1-0 win that leaves them level on points with the Argentines - one behind the Brazilians.
   It was Chile’s first ever qualifying success over the albiceleste and first of any description since 1973
   Paraguay’s ‘Guaranies’ have won five home games on the trot and coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino said he was happy to have three more points on the board, particularly after a laboured performance on the night.
   ‘The team did not play well - we were rather nervous - but we have three points worth their weight in gold. This is another step along the road. But we have not qualified yet,’ said Martino.
   Benitez, nicknamed the Parrot, said he did not care if Cardozo felt he had a claim on the goal.
   ‘The goal is what matters, not who scored it. I got to (the ball) and he (Cardozo) clipped my foot. It doesn’t matter who got it. I am lucky - the ball always falls to me.’
   Brazilian referee Salvio Fagundes ultimately decided to chalk the goal up to Benitez, who was making a debut appearance from the bench.
   ‘I have always dreamed of wearing the national shirt - thank God it went off well,’ Benitez enthused.
   As the Paraguayans celebrated, Argentina found themselves looking in vain for inspiration from talisman Leo Messi, going down in Santiago to Marcelo Bielsa’s Chile.
   Alfio Basile’s visitors succumbed after Gary Medel set up Orellana’s solitary strike ten minutes before the break and but for wayward finishing the margin could have been greater.
   ‘They were better than us in all respects. They chased down every ball - it was like 15 against ten,’ Basile admitted afterwards.
   ‘This was an important win - but we have to carry on like this if we are to reach South Africa,’ said Chilean keeper Claudio Bravo.
   Marring the win, Chilean forward Mark Gonzalez had to be taken to hospital following a clash of heads with Argentine defender Nicolas Burdisso which left the former Liverpool man unconscious.
   Medical staff said he was in a satisfactory condition.
   Brazil boss Dunga said his side had come up against a determined side in Colombia as he struggled to impress his critics following a goalless draw which follwed a canter in Venezuela.
   ‘They made it very tough for us, closing things down. Before, it used to be hard to win, now we have to get back to winning the home games,’ said Dunga as he shrugged off chants of ‘bye bye Dunga’ from some frustrated fans fed up that the likes of Kaka and Robinho had failed to unlock the visitors’ defence.
   ‘I’m not the first to have been booed. People need to keep things in perspective - anyone would think we were last in the group,’ reflected Dunga, who won the World Cup as a player in 1994 and who took over as coach two years ago from Carlos Parreira despite a lack of experience even at club level.
   ‘We have to keep plugging away,’ he said following a match of few highlights.
   Elsewhere, Venezuela came from behind to beat Ecuador 3-1 in Puerto La Cruz to edge back above Bolivia, who threw away a two-goal lead on Tuesday in La Paz against a Uruguay side which clung onto fifth spot on the table, a point ahead of Ecuador.
   The side that places fifth will earn a home-and-away playoff with the fourth placed team from the North, Central America and Caribbean zone.

Wayne Rooney hailed England’s perfect start to their World Cup qualifying campaign as reward for the work ethic instilled in the side by manager Fabio Capello.
   Rooney, who scored twice in a 3-1 win over Belarus here on Wednesday, said: ‘It was a very good result but we had to work very hard for it.
   ‘Belarus are a good footballing team. They passed the ball very well, probably in a similar style to Arsenal. ‘But we worked hard and I think we deserved the win.’
   Rooney settled the contest with two well-taken second-half strikes but the Manchester United man insisted the plaudits should be shared around.
   ‘I give a lot of credit to my team-mates,’ he said. ‘It was great individual work by Emile (Heskey) for my first goal and a great pass by Stevie (Gerrard) for the second.’
   England were pegged back by Pavel Sitko’s equaliser after Gerrard had given them an early lead.
   But they switched gear in the wake of Capello’s half-time pep talk and ran out comfortable winners.
   ‘He told us we had to get tighter to them, get more on the ball and control the game and we did that in the second half,’ Rooney said.
   Rio Ferdinand, who captained the side in the absence of the injured John Terry, added: ‘The half-time talk was quite simple. He said push up from the back and keep competing.
   ‘You think it is going to be rocket science with a foreign minager but he keeps it simple and that is one of his strengths.’
   Capello said he was delighted with the performance.
   ‘I am very happy because as I said before the game it was a very important game for us.
   ‘Belarus are a good team and they played very well in the first half. We had a good performance up front but what was very important is that we played like a team.
   ‘If we want to win, we have to play like a team, not like single players. It is very imporant and tonight I saw one team.
   ‘There is no secret—it is about work, creating a group, creating the mentality and the confidence. This is very important because the players are very good players.’
   The win left England five points clear of Croatia at the top of the group, but Capello is taking nothing for granted in the wake of England’s failure to reach Euro 2008. ‘It is another step, an important victory but we have more games to play to go to South Africa,’ the Italian added.
   That theme was echoed by Ferdinand. ‘It is good to have won four games on the bounce but there is much to improve and it does not mean we have qualified,’ the Manchester United defender said.
   ‘We need to keep trying to improve, doing the simple things right as we do for our clubs and hopefuly we will start getting it right for England.’
   Gerrard added: ‘The second half we played really, really well. Belarus are a good team who have had some fantastic results and we needed to improve in the second half and we did that.’
   Having admitted earlier this week that he feared for his place after consistently failing to reproduce his Liverpool form for England, Gerrard was pleased to play a central role with a well-taken goal and an assist on Rooney’s second.
   ‘Playing for England you have always got a point to prove,’ he said. ‘You are fighting for the shirt every game.
   ‘As long as I am in the team and we are winning matches I am happy. I felt I played well tonight. Sometimes I have not hit the heights I would like to for England but I will always give everything for my country.’
   Gerrard went on to underline the difference that Rooney, in his current form, makes to England.
   ‘He’s up there with the best players in the world,’ Gerrard said. ‘He is a special talent and it is a pleasure to play with him.’

Wayne Rooney has set England a target of winning all of their remaining World Cup qualifiers after his double helped Fabio Capello’s squad to a 3-1 win over Belarus and a four-out-of-four start to the campaign to reach South Africa 2010.
   Capello appears to have the knack of getting the best out of Rooney, who has now scored five goals in his last three internationals, and the striker joined his team-mates in underlining the extent to which the new manager has transformed a squad that dismally failed to reach Euro 2008.
   ‘We have got that belief to win now,’ Rooney said. ‘We are going to games believing we can win them with a lot of confidence.
   ‘We have worked really hard to be in the position we are in and now we’ve got to keep working hard. We are in a comfortable position now and we need to get as many points as possible over the remaining games.
   ‘It would be nice to win all the qualifiers. The two most difficult games, in Belarus and Croatia, we have got out of the way and we have managed to come out with maximum points. So I don’t see any reason why we can’t win all the qualifiers now.’ One of the keys to England’s revival has been the way Capello has transformed Rooney from a player who failed to score a single competitive goal for his country between 2004 and 2007 into one of the most in-form strikers in world football.
   ‘The manager’s the one that has brought it all in for us,’ said David Beckham, whose late appearance as a substitute won him a 107th cap, leaving him third in the record books behind Peter Shilton (125) and Bobby Moore (108).
   ‘He knows how to win, he knows how to play these games. He’s managed so many big sides and knows how to get the players ready. The players are confident now.’
   Rooney settled the contest with two well-taken second-half strikes but the Manchester United man insisted the plaudits should be shared around.
   ‘I give a lot of credit to my team-mates,’ he said. ‘It was great individual work by Emile (Heskey) for my first goal and a great pass by Stevie (Gerrard) for the second.’
   England were pegged back by Pavel Sitko’s equaliser after Gerrard had given them an early lead. But they switched gear in the wake of Capello’s half-time pep talk and ran out comfortable winners.
   ‘He told us we had to get tighter to them, get more on the ball and control the game and we did that in the second half,’ Rooney revealed.
   Rio Ferdinand, who captained the side in the absence of the injured John Terry, added: ‘The half-time talk was quite simple. He said push up from the back and keep competing.
   ‘You think it is going to be rocket science with a foreign minager but he keeps it simple and that is one of his strengths.’
   Ferdinand added: ‘It is good to have won four games on the bounce but there is much to improve and it does not mean we have qualified,’ the Manchester United defender said. ‘We need to keep trying to improve, doing the simple things right as we do for our clubs and hopefully we will start getting it right for England.’
   Having admitted earlier this week that he feared for his place after consistently failing to reproduce his Liverpool form for England, Gerrard was pleased to play a central role with a well-taken goal and an assist on Rooney’s second. ‘Playing for England you have always got a point to prove,’ he said. ‘You are fighting for the shirt every game. ‘As long as I am in the team and we are winning matches I am happy. I felt I played well tonight. Sometimes I have not hit the heights I would like to for England but I will always give everything for my country.’
   Gerrard went on to underline the difference that Rooney, in his current form, makes to England.
   ‘He’s up there with the best players in the world,’ Gerrard said. ‘He is a special talent and it is a pleasure to play with him.’

Germany coach Joachim Low said it was mission accomplished as his side took a four-point lead in their World Cup qualifying group thanks to Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over Wales.
   Hamburg winger Piotr Trochowski unleashed a superb second-half winner here as Low’s side took a sizeable step towards claiming the single guaranteed place at South Africa 2010 from Group Four.
   Their third win from four games, and three more points against a spirited Welsh side after last Saturday’s 2-1 win over Russia, means Germany will finish the year on ten points ahead of Russia and Wales who are on six.
   ‘With six points from the last two matches, we are absolutely content,’ said Low. ‘We are the group leaders, which is a good foundation to build on for next year.
   ‘We expected the Welsh would defend deeply, but in the second-half we invested more and our team was mentally very strong.’
   Dogged defending by Wales frustrated Germany until Trochowski’s strike as the host’s attack finally unpicked the lock on the Welsh goal when the 24-year-old winger rifled his shot past Welsh goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.
   The Welsh plan had been simple - restrict Germany’s attack and get forward as much as possible - and John Toshack’s team held the Germans team to 0-0 until the 72nd minute and had some chances to silence the 44,500 crowd.
   ‘We came here to play in a certain way, even if we didn’t get forward as much as we would have liked in the first half,’ said Toshack.
   ‘They had chances, but I thought we contained them well.
   ‘But the way they set up with their four in midfield they can all hit them from 25 yards out and so it proved.
   ‘We had restricted them in the first half but maybe we tired a little bit.
   ‘We couldn’t ask for much more from them.
   ‘It’s probably a measure of how far we’ve come that we’re disappointed at losing 1-0 away in Germany.’
   And Chelsea captain Michael Ballack admitted the home side struggled to finish their numerous chances in the first half.
   ‘We failed to score an early goal and made life a bit hard for ourselves,’ said Ballack.
   ‘In the first-half, we lacked the concentration and a bit of finishing, but things were better in the second-half.’
   Trochowski chose the perfect time to score his first goal for Germany, but admitted his side should have finished with more goals.
   ‘We should have scored more goals - we certainly created the chances, but the main thing was to get the three points,’ said Trochowski.
   ‘It’s been a while since I shot so many times on goal, the ball had to go in at sometime. I am just over the moon we won the game.’

David Beckham celebrated overtaking Sir Bobby Charlton to become England’s third most capped player by paying tribute to the influence the Manchester United and England legend has had on his career.
   ‘Without a doubt it means a lot,’ Beckham said after winning his 107th cap—one more than Charlton managed—with an appearance as a late substitute in the 3-1 win over Belarus here on Wednesday.
   ‘Sir Bobby Charlton was a hero of my dad’s and also of mine. I went to his soccer school when I was a boy. With him being a Manchester United legend I’m very honoured to be above him in the list and as close to him as I am.’ One more appearance—possibly in a friendly in Germany next month—would see the 33-year-old Beckham equal 1966 captain Bobby Moore’s tally of 108 caps, the highest total by an outfield player.
   Beckham however still has some way to go to match former goalkeeper Peter Shilton’s record of 125 appearances for England, although he will almost certainly do it if he achieves his ambition of staying in the squad until the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
   Most pundits see that as unlikely but Beckham has defied the odds before, most notably by coming back after being dropped at the start of Steve McClaren’s reign in the aftermath of the last World Cup.