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Bangladesh hope to christen international cricket’s newest venue with victory in the first of the three one-dayers against West Indies today at Windsor Park here.
   The Tigers would have probably had low expectations prior to their arrival in the Caribbean, but fortune favoured them when the leading West Indies players chose to boycott the series.
   Their replacements were no match for the Bangladeshis, who convincingly swept the two-Test series to gain the boost of confidence that their appointed captain and leading fast bowler Mashrafee bin Murtaza set as one of their objectives.
   Sadly, Murtaza played only a minor role in the Test series triumph, following a fall which aggravated a previous right knee injury, and has sidelined him for the three ODIs and the Twenty20 International to follow.
   Sakib al Hasan will lead the side as he did during the Tests, and will hope to build on his performances which led to him winning the man-of-the-series award.
   ‘We are looking forward to the ODI series too, and we want to continue winning,’ said left-arm spin bowling all-rounder.
   ‘The boys have been playing really well, and God willing, we can also win the ODI series.’
   Bangladesh have added left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, all-rounder Naeem Islam, and medium-fast bowler Syed Rasel for the series.
   Razzak is the most experienced with 111 wickets at 27.90 in 81 ODIs and will be looking to exploit the frailty of the West Indies batsmen to spin bowling which was so apparent in the Tests.
   But he will also be looking to give solid proof that his bowling action is no longer suspect, following his suspension in December last year, after playing against South Africa last November like Naeem and Rasel.
   West Indies too, have recruited some troops to fortify their side, but the big names like Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor and Denesh Ramdin remain absent although the players’ boycott has ended.
   The players and the West Indies Cricket Board have agreed to arbitration, but the decision came after the announcement of the squad for the first two ODIs.
   It is still not clear whether West Indies will start filtering the leading players back into the line-up for the last ODI or the Twenty20 match.
   For West Indies coach John Dyson, apart from winning, there is only one other thing on his mind.
   ‘I’m looking forward to the ODIs, but what I’d like to see is a hard, pacy, bouncy pitch,’ said Dyson.
   ‘The two Test matches were closely fought. It wasn’t a case where we were thrashed in either of the matches. We could have won both, so I don’t think there’s much in it.’
   West Indies have recalled left-hander Devon Smith and fellow Grenadian Andre Fletcher, and included uncapped left-hander Kieran Powell to shore up their batting.
   Leg-spinner Rawl Lewis has also been recalled and uncapped fast-medium bowler Gavin Tonge has received his first call-up.
   The rest of the side, which is again being led by left-handed batsman Floyd Reifer, comprises mostly the players that played in the Tests, as well as fast bowler Nelon Pascal, who was part of the Test squad, but did not play in either of the two matches.
   The first two ODIs will be staged at Windsor Park which has been significantly upgraded at a cost 17 million dollars, and allows Dominica to host its first international matches.
   The ground, which was levelled out of a rubbish dump a couple decades ago, now accommodates state-of-the-art facilities featuring 10,000 seats and was a gift from China at the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two nations.
   The series concludes Friday next week at Warner Park in St. Kitts which also stages a Twenty20 International between the two sides two days later.
   
   Squads
   West Indies: Floyd Reifer (captain), Darren Sammy, Dave Bernard Jr, Travis Dowlin, Andre Fletcher, Rawl Lewis, Nikita Miller, Nelon Pascal, Kieran Powell, Dale Richards, Kemar Roach, Devon Smith, Devon Thomas, Gavin Tonge
   Bangladesh: Sakib al Hasan (captain), Abdur Razzak, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Mahbubul Alam, Mahmudullah, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Raqibul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Syed Rasel, Tamim Iqbal.

Sprint superstar Usain Bolt won the 100m at the London Grand Prix here on Friday in astounding style on a day when it was announced five of his fellow Jamaicans had tested positive for drugs.
   Despite running into a stiff head wind, world record-holder Bolt, the Olympic 100m and 200m champion, still clocked a time of 9.91sec even though he clearly slowed down in the closing stages.
   Bolt, who in Beijing last year set a world record of 9.69sec while winning gold, was not the quickest away from the start but once he was into his stride no-one in final at the Crystal Palace track in south London ever looked like catching him.
   It was a display to worry rivals ahead of next month’s World Championships in Berlin but Bolt, who finished second in his heat, told the BBC afterwards: ‘I am ready for anything that comes my way. I am not invincible, I am not unbeatable. Other people will have a good day when I don’t, but until then I’ll keep winning.’
   Reflecting on the race, he added: ‘Overall the main aim for me was the first 50m and I did well, I got it right so I’m happy.
   ‘I knew it was going to be a headwind so I wasn’t worried about the time. I got a good start, the transition was good so I’m happy with myself.
   ‘I’m still at 85 percent and after this it’s all training, I’ve got two or three weeks of good training to put in so I guess I will be 100 per cent by Berlin,’ he added.
   Fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake was a distant second to Bolt in 10.11 secs with Antigua’s Daniel Bailey third.
   Jamaica’s former world record-holder Asafa Powell, who before this race insisted Bolt could be beaten, finished well down the field in sixth place.
   In the women’s pole vault Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva suffered her first defeat in a major event since the 2003 World Athletics finals.
   World record holder Isinbayeva was beaten on countback by Anna Rogowska of Poland after only clearing 4.68m, the height at which she entered the competition, at her third and final attempt.
   Mo Farah failed to break the 27-year-old British record for 5,000m but did at least win the race in a time of 13 minutes 09.14 seconds.
   Dave Moorcroft’s mark of 13mins 00.41secs - a world record at the time - has stood since July 1982 and Farah, running into a headwind, was always going to be struggling to go under that time.
   ‘It was pretty windy but I just wanted to win if I couldn’t run a time and I’m really happy with it,’ Farah said.
   Britain’s Nicola Sanders, a silver medallist behind compatriot Christine Ohuruogu in the last World Championships in Osaka, continued her return from an ankle injury to win the women’s 400m ahead of the American duo of Shana Cox and Monica Hargrove.
   ‘I was exhausted coming into the home straight but I’m pleased with the win,’ Sanders said.
   Olympic silver medallist Phillips Idowu could only finish third in the triple jump, with America’s Brandon Roulhac winning and Cuba’s David Giralt in second place.
   Earlier Friday, the International Association of Athletics Federations confirmed that five Jamaican sprinters - four men and one woman - had tested positive for a banned substance at the country’s world championship trials.
   The five do not include Bolt or Powell or any of the country’s top sprint stars.

Bangladesh Football Federation on Saturday halted the national football team’s practice for two days following an unwanted incident between Brazilian coach Edson Silva Dido and eight of 31 players of the national camp at the BKSP.
   The trouble started last Thursday when veteran defender Rajani, who has been playing for the national team for the last twelve years, complained that he would not be able to finish his run as he was too exhausted. A visibly angry Dido insisted on completing the job. As Rajani refused to obey his order Dido told him to leave the camp. It triggered a mild commotion among the players and seven of them came up with the same complaint. Dido also ordered them to leave the camp and said he won’t need them.
   However, the players stayed at the camp on Thursday and on Friday morning until the camp was temporarily closed. The camp is scheduled to resume on Sunday morning. The National Team Management Committee reacted sharply over the incident and its chairman Badal Roy summoned both the parties at the BFF House on Saturday.
   After about six hours of meeting in four sessions with the eight recalcitrant players and the coaching staff of the national team that includes Dido, assistant coach Shafiqul Islam Manik, Argentine trainer Ariel Coleman and, coordinator Hasanuzzaman Bablu, Badal reached a conclusion.
   Meanwhile, the players after the first meeting refused to change their stance and said they will not apologise to the coach. They said, ‘We are ready to leave the camp as desired by the coach. We don’t have any fault.’ But later they changed their stance.
   Dido on the other hand submitted a letter to the NTMC saying that he has decided to exclude the eight players who did not want to finish the training on Thursday. The NTMC was thrown into a dilemma but as good sense prevailed among the players they agreed to apologise to the coach.
   National captain Aminul was shocked at the incident. ‘We are professional players and we have to take the load to reach the level that we intend to, there’s no short cut,’ said Aminul.
   But Dido later refused to change his decision and refused to accept their apology. The NTMC had no other alternative but to suspend the camp.
   Badal Roy presented a clear picture. ‘In our view it was just a misunderstanding between the coach and the players, the players realised their mistake and we also consider it as a breach of conduct. They changed their stance and went to the coach to apologise, he should have accepted it which would have changed the scenario, we are not happy with this situation but hope things will change in the next two hours,’ said the NTMC chief.
   BFF president Kazi Salahuddin is currently out of the country and is expected to return today and he may interfere in the incident.

West Indies’ leading players may have ended their strike but their board has confirmed that there will be no changes to the weakened 30-man pool it had named for the Champions Trophy earlier in the week.
   ‘The executive committee of the West Indies Cricket Board wishes to confirm the initial squad of 30 players announced earlier this month for the ICC’s Champions Trophy in South Africa,’ a board statement said. ‘This squad was chosen from among those players who declared themselves available for selection for the tournament within the deadline date for finalisation of the 30.’
   Chris Gayle and the other players who had boycotted the Tests against Bangladesh had made themselves available for international duty on Tuesday, but are yet to be picked by the selectors. Besides being excluded from the Champions Trophy, they were left out of the squad for the first two one-dayers against Bangladesh which starts today.
   The WICB and the West Indies Players’ Association, which is negotiating on the cricketers’ behalf, agreed to resolve their dispute by mediation on Tuesday, after meeting with Guyana president Bharat Jagdeo, who is also chairman of the 15-nation trading bloc Caribbean Community and Common Market. Both sides agreed to the appointment of former Commonwealth secretary general Shridath Ramphal as arbitrator.

Sri Lanka’s veteran seamer Chaminda Vaas insists his international career is not over despite retiring from Test cricket and finding himself dumped from the limited-overs game.
   The left-armer, 35, ended his Test career at the end of the three-match series against Pakistan on Friday, saying he was still keen to play one-day and Twenty20 cricket till the 2011 World Cup.
   The selectors, however, did not pick Vaas in the 15-man squad for the upcoming five-match one-day series against Pakistan starting in the central town of Dambulla on July 30.
   ‘I will be back soon,’ Vaas said at a farewell media conference after his last Test, the 111th in a 15-year career in which he claimed 355 wickets at an average of 29.58.
   ‘I have not played one-day cricket for 11 months and during that time all the young fast bowlers have played very well and grabbed the opportunities with both hands.
   ‘I am going to work hard to fight for my place.’
   Vaas rubbished media speculation that he was forced to retire from Test cricket after being overlooked for the first two matches against Pakistan and only included for the third after a deal with the selectors.
   ‘No one forced me to retire,’ he said. ‘I am thankful that I got the opportunity to play in my last Test.
   ‘This is the best time to retire from Test cricket and concentrate on one-dayers and Twenty20s because the young fast bowlers who are emerging are doing pretty well.’
   Vaas, who also scored 3,085 Test runs, is only the third Sri Lankan cricketer after Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan to play more than 100 Tests.
   He has 400 wickets from 322 one-day internationals, including a hat-trick off the first three balls of the match against Bangladesh during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
   Looking back at his Test career that began in 1994, also against Pakistan, Vaas said he was proud to have contributed to Sri Lanka’s success at the international level.
   ‘After 15 years Sri Lanka has made giant strides and is able to rub shoulders with the best,’ he said.
   ‘While many people have contributed to this transformation, I am proud to have played my own little part in this process.
   ‘I may not have been the most talented cricketer to play for Sri Lanka but I have worked hard on my game and was able to produce good results. There is no substitute for hard work.’
   Vaas, who was part of Sri Lanka’s World Cup-winning team in 1996, rates the then captain Arjuna Ranatunga as ‘a strong leader who had a great influence on my career.’
   Vaas’ role model was Pakistani legend Wasim Akram, a left-arm fast bowler like him, while he picked Sachin Tendulkar of India and West Indian Brian Lara as the most difficult batsmen to bowl to.

Allan Donald, the former South African fast bowler, has said bowlers must be allowed to ‘prepare’ the ball - ball-tampering, in other words - to redress the balance between bat and ball and protect the ‘dying breed’ from increasingly lifeless pitches.
   Speaking to Cricinfo on Friday, Donald was asked if he would recommend legalising ball tampering. He said: ‘The ICC would shoot me for saying it but, with the wickets that we play on and the dying breed fast bowlers are becoming on these flatter wickets, I would say we do need some sort of defence mechanism, something to fall back on to say ‘Right, we can do this. We can now prepare this ball to go’.’
   Donald, currently the Warwickshire coach, knows, though, that his plea is likely to fall on deaf ears. ‘That [legalising ball-tampering] quite simply would never happen,’ he said.
   Ball tampering was a raging issue in the 1990s, a period that coincided with Donald’s rise as leader of the South African bowling attack. He agreed that bowlers had altered the condition of the ball in various ways to get prodigious reverse swing. ‘There is no doubt guys tampered with the ball,’ he said of the fast bowlers of his time. He recalled one incident in the mid-1990s when he saw a former fast bowler pick a little chunk of leather live on the television during a Test match against England. ‘The guy was just chipping away with his nails and I couldn’t believe how he could get away with it,’ Donald said. ‘The commentator, a famous former player, said ‘Steady on’, but he [bowler] denied it later. Let’s not kid ourselves, there is no question it still goes on.’
   To get reverse swing, one must rough one side of the ball while polishing the other. ‘One [popular] way to do it is to get the ball into the dirt,’ Donald said, a method easily practised on rough subcontinent surfaces where the ball, especially the white one, soon gets scuffed up. ‘Even the red ball, in places like India, we found, did not take too long to reverse.’
   England also used reverse swing to win back the Ashes at home in 2005. ‘Yes, I remember [Andrew] Flintoff and [Simon] Jones do it beautifully to swing it both ways especially in Old Trafford by chucking the ball into the foothold.’
   Donald isn’t the first fast bowler to make this case; in the mid-1990s, Sir Richard Hadlee had also asked for ball-tampering to be legalised. ‘As long as the bowlers or fielders use whatever means they have on their persons, I don’t see anything wrong with it. I’m talking about the use of a finger nail to scratch the ball, not bottle tops or those sorts of things,’ Hadlee wrote in a newspaper column at the time.
   Donald agreed the best method, if the ICC relented, was to rip the ball without artificial help. ‘I wouldn’t bite it,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘One way is if the ball gets scuffed on one side,and there is a tiny little chunk that is missing, you pick it up and just keep that side dry and keep working on it, while shining the other side very heavily without putting any moisture. The whole team needs to keep track of this and should know the ball is reversing and they need to shine one side. The bowler, because he is bowling, should keep his wet hands on this side while keeping the other side dry. That’s all you need.’

Olympic and reigning world champions Russia added yet another gold medal to their collection by winning the synchronised swimming team free competition at the World Championships here on Saturday.
   Russia scored a hugely impressive 99.167 with Spain taking up their usual second position one point back and China in third on 97.167.
   With the synchronised swimming programme at an end in these championships, Russia won six out of seven gold medals but were not competing in the one event they did not win.
   ‘We are satisfied, we’re not saying we’re the best it’s just a matter of fact. The judges’ scores prove it,’ said Anastasia Davydova, who was also part of the technical duet winning team.
   For Natalia Ishchenko it was her fourth gold medal of these championships and tenth overall at the worlds.
   She earlier won both the solo technical and free competitions and the duet free with Svetlana Romashina, who was also part of this team and won her third gold medal here.
   Spain’s Gemma Mengual won her sixth medal of these championships and fifth silver, also claiming a gold in the team free combination.
   Her team-mate Thais Henriquez admitted the Spaniards were just not as precise as the Russians.
   ‘We need to be more accurate to reach the Russian team’s level,’ she said. ‘For today’s competition we tried to be as innovative as possible (but) it was a new routine and we didn’t have much time to work on it.’
   The Chinese were perhaps the biggest surprise in the competition having improved drastically in recent times.
   ‘As captain I feel very proud about what we’ve achieved in these championships,’ said Zang Xiaohuan.
   ‘We took part in five events and we clinched five medals. We have improved a lot over the past few years.’

A quickfire 82 in 59 balls from stand-in captain Mushfiqur Rahim took Bangladesh to a 16-run victory over University of West Indies Vice Chancellor’s XI at Benjamin Park in Dominica on Friday.
   In a rain-affected match reduced to 25 overs a side, Mushfiqur helped his team recover from 38 for 3 to a final score of 167 for 6. He shared a vital 53-run fourth-wicket partnership with Raqibul Hasan, who made 34. Significant stands for the fifth and seventh wickets then pushed Bangladesh to a challenging score.
   In reply, the home team got off to a good start with Omar Philips making 49 at the top of the order, but Devon Smith and Kieran Powell fell cheaply to leave the hosts in trouble on 86 for 3. Chadwick Walton hit 21 from 16 balls and Crafton Clarke cracked an unbeaten 29 from 19 balls to help revive the Vice Chancellor’s XI, but it could not prevent a Bangladesh win.
   Bangladesh play the first of three ODIs against the West Indies in Dominica today, followed by a solitary Twenty20 international.

Bangladesh Under-19s won the ODI series against England Under-19s after a thrilling one-wicket victory in the deciding fifth one-dayer at Hove on Friday.
   In a low scoring game, Bangladesh needed six runs to win in the final two overs with two wickets in hand, but Nur Hossain was run-out to give England a sniff of victory. However, Bangladesh scrambled past the finish line with a single when England missed a run-out opportunity to hand the tourists a win.
   Bangladesh’s chase was led by captain Mahmudul Hasan, who top scored with 70 from 85 balls. Coming in after his team was reduced to 59 for 4, Hasan anchored the innings, and was well supported by Alauddin Babu, who stayed till the end with an unbeaten 24 off 30 balls.
   Earlier, England could not generate any momentum while batting, and the in-form Sam Northeast scored the only half-century of the innings. The Bangladesh bowlers kept a tight leash, limiting England to 196 for 8 in 50 overs.
   Bangladesh won the ODI series 2-1 after losing the two-match Test series 0-1, and will finish their tour of England with two Twenty20s beginning on Tuesday at Lincolnshire.

Pakistan on Saturday said reports that it was withdrawing a legal notice against cricket’s governing body over the relocation of its share of World Cup matches were ‘premature’.
   Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt told AFP a decision is yet to be taken.
   Pakistan served a legal notice to the International Cricket Council after being stripped of its World Cup 2011 matches in April this year.
   ‘It’s mere speculation that we are withdrawing the legal notice,’ he said. ‘I am meeting ICC President Mr David Morgan on Monday and Tuesday and only after that meeting we will decide about the next step.’
   Local media reported that the PCB was considering withdrawing the notice after their British lawyer Mark Gay said the legal grounds were weak.
   The ICC last month endorsed April’s decision of relocating the 14 matches Pakistan was due to host but maintained Pakistan will get the 10.5 million dollars as its share.
   The ICC also ruled out relocating the matches to a fifth country—a neutral venue such as the United Arab Emirates, where Pakistan played their recent international matches.
   The Central Organising Committee of World Cup 2011 in its meeting earlier this month awarded eight of Pakistan’s matches to India, four to Sri Lanka and two to Bangladesh—a decision which Pakistan did not accept. The ICC was forced to move Pakistan’s matches following terrorists’ attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore on March 3.
   The attacks, which left seven players and their assistant coach injured besides killing eight people, ended any chance of hosting international cricket in the country where teams were already refusing to tour over security fears.
   The Pakistan Cricket Board took legal action against the stripping of the matches and relocation of the World Cup secretariat from Lahore to Mumbai. A civil court in Lahore gave a stay order against relocation of the secretariat.
   But the PCB put on hold the legal proceedings in an effort to solve the issue through talks between the four host countries and the ICC, but the talks failed in England last month.
   The PCB’s legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi said the PCB has the option of withdrawing the legal notice but a final decision will only be taken after the meeting between Butt and Morgan in Dubai.
   ‘There is always the option of withdrawing the notice but a final step will only be determined after the meeting between the PCB chairman and ICC President,’ Rizvi told AFP.

Sourav Ganguly is almost certain to be reinstated as the captain while John Wright is likely to take over as the coach of Kolkata Knight Riders in the third edition of the Indian Premier League in 2010, a team source said on Saturday.
   Even as an official announcement is awaited, the source said that there could be a major reshuffle with former India coach Wright likely to replace John Buchanan as Knight Riders coach, while former Australian middle-order batsman Michael Bevan will be on the coaching panel.
   Ganguly would be back at the helm in 2010 when his contract with the Kolkata team ends and the iconic Bengal cricketer had a one-on-one with principal owner Shah Rukh Khan when the duo met in London to receive doctorates by the University of Central Lancashire last week.
   ‘Ganguly and Shah Rukh Khan had a discussion about this when the left-hander was in London last week. They have agreed in principle that Ganguly will lead the side,’ the source said.
   ‘There were also discussions about the possible coaches. Wright and Bevan are the front runners. It is up to Shah Rukh to take the final call.’
   Ganguly, meanwhile, said that nothing is final as yet and a proper announcement will be made in due time.
   ‘I don’t take the decision of KKR alone. There are a number of people involved in the process. But hopefully in due course of time we will get a person who will coach the team. The decision has not been made yet,’ Ganguly said.
   The Knight Riders management was also tightlipped about the development.
   When contacted, Knight Riders CEO Joy Bhattacharya said: ‘At the moment, I don’t deny this (Ganguly as captain and Wright as the chief coach). However, there has not been any official announcement as yet.’
   Asked whether he was aware of this development, he said, ‘I don’t want to comment on this. When there is an official announcement, we will let you know.’
   In the second edition of the Indian Premier League in South Africa, Kolkata Knight Riders were plagued a with controversies especially after Ganguly was dethroned just two days before the start of the tournament.
   Knight Riders coach John Buchanan, who later had to part ways with the side after their bottom place finish, had floated the idea of multiple captaincy but only to hand over the baton to New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum.
   IPL III begins in March next year and it will overlap with Australia’s tour of New Zealand.

Glenn McGrath, the former Australian fast bowler, has said that Mitchell Johnson’s failure in the first two Ashes Tests was due to ‘mental issues rather than technical ones’ and wants the bowler to keep things simple for the remainder of the series.
   ‘A lot of people will be giving Mitch all kinds of technical advice, saying his bowling arm is too low when delivering the ball or his wrist position is wrong, but in my experience, these losses of form are nearly always mental issues, rather than technical ones,’ McGrath told The Australian.
   ‘He had a bit of a lay-off before the Australians came over here, and you cannot always just pick up from where you left off.’
   Johnson came into the Ashes as Australia’s spearhead but was inaccurate and expensive during the first two Tests and, although he picked up eight wickets, he was unable to build any sort of pressure on England’s batsmen.
   McGrath, however, felt that Johnson had not lost the skills that made him so successful in South Africa. ‘What I would say to Mitch is that he hasn’t lost any of the ability that makes him one of the most talented all-round cricketers in the world,’ McGrath said. ‘Look at the ball he bowled to dismiss Matt Prior in England’s first innings. It was almost perfect: his fingers were in the right position on the seam, and the swing he found was excellent.
   ‘If Mitch can sort out the mental side of things, I’m convinced everything else would fall into place. Cricketers around the world would kill to have half of his potential.’
   Johnson is not bereft of advice in England. Brett Lee, the only Australian bowler with Test experience in England, has been talking to him about his form, as are the others. ‘Everyone’s been chatting to him and offering their advice. I’ve been offering my advice,’ Lee, who missed the first two Tests because of injury, said. ‘Mitch is running ideas around. Everyone’s in it together. He’s obviously searching for a lot more wickets, but it’s not a matter of everyone being panicked and stressed out, saying what’s going on.
   ‘The key word over here is patience,’ Lee said. ‘Playing in Australia and South Africa, it’s more conducive to fast bowling, particularly in South Africa. It’s just so important when you’re on wickets that are benign and aren’t conducive to fast bowling, you’ve got to find a way to get around that. In 2001 that’s the big thing I learnt. You can’t try and blast batsmen out.’

Rio Ferdinand insists Manchester United should not be bitter at Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure for Real Madrid.
   As Sir Alex Ferguson acknowledged earlier this week, Ronaldo remains the best player in the world ‘by miles’ and is bound to be missed by United this term.
   But, after six years’ service to the Old Trafford club, Ferdinand does not feel Ronaldo deserves to be criticised for following a boyhood dream.
   ‘I don’t think any of the lads are bitter or should be bitter towards Ronny,’ Ferdinand told the Daily Telegraph. ‘He came here as a young lad and gave six years of his career to this club.
   ‘So bearing in mind that careers average out at between 10-12 years, he’s given half his career to one club, this club, and I think you have to respect that.
   ‘You can’t put a shadow over someone’s dream. Since he was a kid, he wanted to play for Real Madrid.
   ‘Playing for Manchester United is the holy grail for some people and it is those people who probably don’t understand why he wants to go somewhere else that equals the holy grail.’
   Ferguson has already brought in Antonio Valencia from Wigan and snapped up Michael Owen on a free transfer in an effort to plug the gap.
   Although Valencia will not make his pre-season bow until next week’s Audi Cup in Munich, Owen has already made a positive impact on the Red Devils’ current Far East tour.
   And Ferdinand is confident United have the quality to cope with losing the world player of the year.
   ‘We will be a lot more compact as a team with Cristiano gone, more compact in midfield and harder to break down,’ he reflected. ‘One thing I’m sure of is that Ronaldo going will bring the best out in our players.
   ‘We know he scored a lot of goals in the last two seasons for us, but we have players who are capable of doing that and I’m sure they can go out there, do that job and fill the gap. ‘The longevity and time we have had together as a team, learning each other’s games and personalities is a big weapon, and one we have to use. We have the mentality of winners.

Md Ahad Ali Sarker, the state minister for youth and sports congratulated the Bangladesh U-19 Team on winning the Youth ODI Series against England.
   The Bangladesh U-19 side completed a 2-1 series victory over their English counterparts after winning the fifth and final match at Hove.
   The state minister praised the excellent performance of the U-19 cricketers and also congratulated the Bangladesh Cricket Board on the Under 19 Team’s achievement.

The Diamond Melamine 1st National Rugby involving eight teams starts at the Paltan Ground today.
   Zahid Ahsan Russell, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee of sports will inaugurate the meet as the chief guest.
   Dhaka, Narail, Faridpur, Bagerhat, Chittagong, Munshiganj, Comilla and Gaibandha are the participating teams.
   In a press conference held at the NSC conference room Moushum Ali, the general secretary of the rugby federation said the budget of the competition is Tk 2,00,000 and the sponsors are providing a purse of Tk 1,20,000. Moktar Hossain, the managing director of the Diamond Melamine and Basir Ahmed, the secretary of the organising committee were also present.

Chelsea midfielder Deco insists he is happy at the club after showdown talks with new manager Carlo Ancelotti.
   The Portugal international was expected to leave the Blues this summer, but failed to seal a move to Inter Milan and now claims he will give his all for the cause this season.
   ‘I have talked with the manager,’ explained Deco. ‘We talked a lot about things, about the game, about what he thinks about the team and tactics.
   ‘I will be here. I have a contract and I will do my best, wherever I am on the pitch.’
   Although Deco flourished early on last season a succession of injuries hampered the Brazilian-born star’s form.
   The 31-year-old is hoping staying injury-free this time around will give him the chance to show fans what they have been missing.
   ‘The last season was difficult for me – I had many injuries,’ he continued. ‘You recover and get fit again and, straight after, another injury. I hope this season will be different. I’m happy to play.
   ‘I hope I can show fans what I can do. I’m happy to be here. The club is good, the atmosphere around it is good. I like being here.’

Australia captain Ricky Ponting admitted Saturday that he had been surprised by the aggressive nature of the crowd at Lord’s during the second Ashes Test against England.
   Ponting was frequently booed, a treatment he had not expected to experience at the home of cricket.
   ‘I’m not sure why I was so much the bad guy with the fans,’ Ponting wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
   ‘Lord’s is the one place around England where you don’t expect to get heckled. You tend to get a more subdued, cricket-loving crowd and one that’s more focused on what’s happening in the game.
   ‘But I guess any Australian captain is going to cop it over here. Some people have said it’s because I’m the last one out of that group of players who had a lot of success in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Perhaps it’s just payback time.’
   Ponting also admitted that after a strong showing in the series opener, Australia’s batting was below par in the second Test.
   But despite his disappointment he hinted that changes would be unlikely at Edgbaston on Thursday.
   ‘Our batsmen can’t get off too lightly; a first-innings total of 215 was a couple of hundred under par on a very good pitch. Personally I was disappointed that my own quiet form at Lord’s continued and I might have to think of carrying on until the 2013 tour just to get my name on that honours board.
   ‘But, even so, I am not expecting too many changes ahead of the Edgbaston Test.’

The England and Wales Cricket Board on Saturday dismissed claims that Kevin Pietersen aggravated his Achilles injury by going against medical advice while playing in the Indian Premier League last April.
   A spokesman told The Guardian: ‘Pietersen reported to Loughborough before he flew out to South Africa (for the IPL) and was passed fit to join up with Bangalore.
   ‘ECB medical staff sent Bangalore a fitness programme and at no stage did Kevin Pietersen do anything to contradict that and at no stage was he told not to go running.
   ‘Kevin Pietersen is the most diligent and responsible of trainers and prides himself on his physical fitness and preparation for playing cricket. The ECB medical staff hold him as one of the best examples of a player who does everything within his power to achieve maximum fitness to play cricket.’
   A spokesman for the player added: ‘Kevin had a medical before he went on the trip. He would not have been allowed to get on the plane if there was anything wrong. They gave him a programme and told him to stick to it but he was never told not to go running.’

European champions Barcelona were denied a winning start to their pre-season campaign as Tottenham midfielder Jake Livermore’s late goal earned a 1-1 draw in the Wembley Cup on Friday.
   Pep Guardiola’s team were back in action for the first time since the end of their treble-winning campaign, but they were frustrated by the dramatic intervention of a teenager who has yet to make his competitive Spurs debut.
   Livermore, who suffered a serious leg injury while on loan at Crewe last season, came on in the 80th minute of the pre-season friendly at England’s national stadium and made an immediate impact as he headed home three minutes later to cancel out Bojan Krkic’s first-half strike.
   Only Yaya Toure survived from Barcelona team that started against Manchester United in May’s Champions League final as Guardiola kept the likes of Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, Xavi and Andres Iniesta on the sidelines.
   Given the desperate nature of Tottenham’s injury crisis, Harry Redknapp might well have breathed a sigh of relief when he saw so many unfamiliar names in Barcelona’s squad.
   The Spurs boss is currently without Jonathan Woodgate, Ledley King and Michael Dawson and was forced to field a makeshift defence in the absence of his three senior centre-backs.
   But at a club like Barcelona even the understudies are good enough to shine when given their chance and they were the better team for long periods.
   Inter Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has agreed personal terms ahead of his move to Barcelona in exchange for Samuel Eto’o, would have relished the swift, incisive nature of his new team’s opening goal in the 32nd minute.
   Toure made a powerful run through midfield and nudged a pass towards Bojan, whose low shot flashed past Carlo Cudicini into the bottom corner.
   Barca had the ball in the net again moments later but Pedro Rodriguez’s cool finish was wrongly ruled out for offside.
   After a lacklustre start, Spurs briefly sparked into life when Luka Modric hit the crossbar before Benoit Assou-Ekotto forced Albert Jorquera to tip over.
   Only a fine save from Cudicini from Victor Sanchez’s blistering drive on the stroke prevented Barca increasing their lead.
   With Barca only a week into their pre-season preparations, Guardiola changed his entire team at half-time.
   Redknapp sent on England Under-21 defender Kyle Naughton, a recent signing from Sheffield United, for his debut in place of Alan Hutton, the former Rangers defender who had been mercilessly jeered by Celtic supporters still in the crowd after their victory over Al Alhy earlier.
   Spurs began to find their rhythm after the break. Tom Huddlestone went close with a deflected effort and Modric forced Jose Pinto into a close-range stop.
   They snatched an equaliser in the 83rd minute when Assou-Ekotto floated in a deep cross and Livermore timed his run perfectly to loop a header over Pinto.

Diego Maradona, the coach of the Argentine national team, affirmed to the press that September’s World Cup qualifier with Brazil is extremely important.
   ‘Against Brazil we will play for our lives,’ said Maradona.
   If Argentina don’t claim maximum points against their arch-rivals they would find themselves in a very uncomfortable position, when taking into consideration their World Cup hopes.
   ‘It will be a very tough match,’ he said. ‘For now, the match will be played in Rosario.’
   Maradona, linked this week with Portsmouth’s new, rich Middle Eastern owner, said he would never hide anything from his Argentina team.
   ‘In the national team I want people who are loyal to me…(and) the Mascheranos, Messis, Agueros will always have what’s best for them,’ Maradona said on Friday.
   ‘They’ll never find out about something from behind (their backs), the coach will always go to tell them things. All my life I’ve operated like that, face to face,’ he told TyC Sports cable TV in an interview.
   Javier Mascherano is Argentina’s captain, Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero two of their leading strikers.
   Maradona did not talk about a report in Arabian Business magazine quoting a lawyer, Angel Oscar Moyano, as saying the Argentina coach was prepared to give up his job with the national team to act as a ‘global ambassador’ for Portsmouth, bringing top players to the English Premier league club.
   He said the decision for Argentina to play Brazil at Rosario Central rather than River Plate in their World Cup qualifier on September 5 was made by the players.
   ‘The players won, they asked to play in Rosario,’ Maradona said of the Argentine Football Association’s decision to stage the match in Argentina’s second city where the Gigante de Arroyito ground is smaller than River Plate’s Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires.
   ‘(Playing there) doesn’t guarantee anything but if the River ground doesn’t give you the support that Rosario’s does, it’s a plus we can take advantage of,’ Maradona said.
   Maradona criticised River’s stadium, and in particular the turf, before and after their 1-0 win over Colombia in June but senior players felt a lack of atmosphere due to its size and an athletics track around the pitch.
   FIFA has approved the Rosario Central ground provided the AFA make some refurbishments to the changing rooms and press and VIP stands.

Jose Mourinho has fired a parting shot at Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, claiming he was never loved by the Inter Milan fans.
   Ibrahimovic is due to wrap up a switch to Barcelona when he agrees personal terms with the Spaniards, with Cameroon forward Samuel Eto’o heading in the opposite direction.
   But Mourinho clearly feels let down by the big Swede and told Saturday’s Gazzetta dello Sport that the club’s fans would have more affection for Eto’o.
   ‘I thought he would stay because only Real Madrid – and they weren’t interested in him – could spend such crazy money, but then Barcelona did too,’ said Mourinho of the deal which will see the Italians also net Belarus winger Alexander Hleb on loan and 50 million euros.
   ‘If, as his agent said, this deal has been in the pipeline for a year, then there’s something strange going on.
   ‘If it was a recent thing, that’s ok. He gave everything he could for me and for Inter, always.
   ‘Even though he was never loved by the fans, who aren’t crying over his sale and are ready to love Eto’o.
   ‘Inter had two possibilities – tell Ibrahimovic: “we’re not selling you”|, or take Eto’o, plus Hleb on loan for a year for free, plus 50 million euros.
   ‘To me that seems like an incredible deal, a deal worth 100 million euros, the deal of the summer.
   ‘Kaka 70, Cristiano Ronaldo 96. For me this is worth 100 million because Eto’o is worth not even one euro less than Ibra.’
   Mourinho also explained why the deal for Chelsea pair Ricardo Carvalho and Deco fell through.
   ‘We were supposed to exchange Carvalho for one of our defenders and to have Deco for free, then Chelsea asked for 15 plus five million euros.
   ‘From zero to 20 million, that’s a bit too much and I’m not blaming my club.’
   Instead of Carvalho, Inter signed Brazil centre-back Lucio from Bayern Munich.
   ‘He wasn’t second choice but a great surprise,’ admitted Mourinho. ‘He doesn’t have great feet but he defends well, he’s quick and he’s knows how to push the team up the pitch. He doesn’t talk much but he knows how to get himself heard.’

Yuri Zhirkov certainly knows how to endear himself to his new manager, scoring the winner on his Chelsea debut to make sure Carlo Ancelotti beat his former team.
   Ancelotti celebrated the third victory out of three friendlies on this pre-season tour of the USA and the Blues play their final fixture against Mexico’s Club America, in Dallas on Sunday.
   He has now beaten both Milan teams inside a week, his old foe Jose Mourinho and Inter on Tuesday and his old friends at AC Milan 2-1 on Friday.
   As for Zhirkov, the player known as the ‘Russian Ronaldinho’ in his homeland after an incredible solo goal he scored for CSKA Moscow against Hamburg, he made a sparkling contribution to a match featuring the original Ronaldinho.
   Milan’s Brazilian maestro delivered a series of flicks and tricks which impressed the American audience, including an audacious nutmeg on John Obi Mikel, which he promptly ruined by trying to pass the ball while looking back at the Chelsea midfielder and gave it away.
   But it was Zhirkov who made the key contribution, driving the ball into the bottom corner from 20 yards after shots from Andriy Shevchenko and Frank Lampard had been blocked.
    ‘It wasn’t a surprise,’ said Ancelotti. ‘He is a very good player but he found it difficult on the pitch in the position he was in. That’s normal. You have to work with the team. It was important for him to score a goal.’
   Zhirkov, an £18-million signing from CSKA, joined his new team-mates this week after finally obtaining a work permit. He played on the left of the midfield diamond which looks set to be the hallmark of Ancelotti’s Chelsea team.
   Nicolas Anelka partnered Didier Drogba in attack and it was Drogba who brought the 70,000 capacity crowd inside Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium to their feet with a blistering strike from 35 yards in the seventh minute.
   Milan took 20 minutes to find their rhythm and could have gone further behind, with clumsy Aussie goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac misjudging crosses and handling poorly.
   Slowly the Italians started to knit passes together and Andrea Pirlo, one of Ancelotti’s favourite sons, unleashed a drive which Petr Cech was unable to hold.
   Ronaldinho, revelling in the exhibition atmosphere, launched himself into an overhead kick which smacked team-mate Marco Boriello in the face.
   Clarence Seedorf was unfortunate when a wonderful chip cleared Cech only to hit the bar but it wasn’t long before the Dutch midfielder had lashed Milan’s equaliser into the top corner from the edge of the penalty box.
   Ronaldinho rattled the bar again, with a free-kick after Branislav Ivanovic had wiped out Alexandre Pato from behind with a challenge which was definitely not friendly.
   Zhirkov reacted quickly to grab Chelsea’s second and Cech made a fine save to deny Filippo Inzaghi in the final minute.
   Ancelotti moves on to Texas with his plans taking shape and his team looking fluent.

Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has warned big-spending Real Madrid that his side won’t give up their reign as European and Spanish champions without a fight.
   After playing second fiddle to Barcelona last season, Real have spent over 180 million pounds to sign stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema during the close-season.
   The Bernabeu club’s spree has led many pundits to predict they will take Barcelona’s Spanish title and replace them as Champions League winners as well.
   But Guardiola sees no reason why Barcelona can’t retain both trophies because his squad still has the same skill and spirit that inspired their treble triumph last season.
   ‘We are going to try (to win everything),’ Guardiola said after his side’s 1-1 draw against Tottenham in the Wembley Cup.
   ‘We know Madrid paid a lot of money to get marvellous players but we are willing to attack and I am convinced we have the spirit to play good football and get something at the end of the season.’
   Guardiola admitted talks to sign Sweden forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan are still ongoing but he expects a positive conclusion to the negotiations soon.
   The transfer moved closer to completion when Ibrahimovic agreed personal terms on Friday and Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o is set to move to the San Siro as part of the deal.
   ‘Eto’o has made his decision but they are still making the negotiations. In the next few days we will know exactly what happens,’ Guardiola said.
   Another player who could be leaving the Nou Camp is Eidur Gudjohnsen, one of the few experienced Barcelona players to feature against Tottenham.
   The former Chelsea forward has been a bit-part player since moving to Spain and is keen to find regular first-team action.
   ‘I have spoken with Eidur. We are looking for the best situation for him,’ Guardiola said. ‘He wants to play. We will see in the next weeks.’
   Guardiola rested Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, Xavi and Andres Iniesta against Spurs, but he expects Argentina forward Messi to play 45 minutes in today’s second Wembley Cup match against African champions Al Ahly.
   France forward Henry is likely to miss out again as a precaution, giving Guardiola the chance to once again play the gifted youngsters who shone against Spurs.
   Bojan Krkic opened the scoring in the first half before Tottenham’s teenage midfielder Jake Livermore headed a late equaliser.
   ‘There are three, four or five players who are at a top level already,’ Guardiola said.
   ‘They are young and playing for Barcelona is not easy. But for me it is a good test to play against Tottenham, one of the best teams in England.
   ‘It is a long season and you never know what will happen with injuries, so it is great for me to know they can play a part.’

The transfer of Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan to Barcelona is expected to be completed on Monday, Nou Camp official Txiki Begiristain said on Friday.
   ‘There is agreement in principle between Inter and player and the documents are being prepared at the moment,’ he said on the Spanish club’s web TV channel.
   ‘The only thing missing is the actual transfer document which (Barcelona’s) financial director and managing director are currently in Milan negotiating with Inter’s representatives.
   ‘Taking this into account, the club will do all it can to conclude the agreement quickly, and to present the player as soon as possible. It might be on Monday,’ he said. Ibrahimovic has left the club’s pre-season training camp in the United States and returned to his native Sweden.
   He was the top scorer in Serie A last season and has been Inter’s best player since joining the club in 2006 when Juventus were demoted to Serie B for match-fixing.
   The complex 50 million euro deal between the Italian and Spanish clubs will also see Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o switch from Barcelona and Belarusian winger Alexander Hleb to go on a season-loan to the San Siro.
   According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Eto’o will sign a five-year deal worth between 10-10.5 million euros a year.
   The 28-year-old Eto’o, who joined the Catalan side in 2004, has a year left in his contract with Barcelona but management at the Catalans have made it clear they have had enough of him.
   He was the club’s top scorer in the Spanish league last season, with 30 goals.
   In Milan, meanwhile, Ibrahimovic’s agent Mino Raiola said he was on his way to Spain to continue talks with the Spanish champions.
   ‘We haven’t yet reached an agreement. Now I’m going to Barcelona and for today it’s over,’ said Raiola after emerging from a meeting in Milan with Inter and Barca representatives.
   ‘There are no problems but we’re trying to reach the best possible solution.’

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard celebrated his high-profile courtroom acquittal by scoring in his team’s 2-2 draw against neighbours Tranmere in a pre-season friendly on Friday.
   The England star played for Liverpool reserves at Prenton Park in Birkenhead just hours after being found not guilty on a charge of affray.
   Gerrard, who was forced to miss his team’s pre-season tour of Asia as he fought to clear his name, was part of a youthful Liverpool side which fell a goal behind just before half-time.
   But before being substituted after 63 minutes, he blasted a fine equaliser with a low drive from outside the box.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez said on Saturday he had spoken to Real Madrid target Xabi Alonso and urged him to stay at Anfield, telling his fellow Spaniard that the fans loved him.
   The unsettled Alonso has been tipped to join new signings Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka at the Bernabeu with Spanish media suggesting the move was imminent.
   Alonso has avoided questions on the subject during the team’s pre-season tour of Asia and Friday held talks with Benitez, who sounded upbeat Saturday.
   ‘I talked to Xabi yesterday and told him, as he can see here, that the fans love him and said to him ‘Maybe you have to stay,’ Benitez said.
   ‘You can see he is a really good player and I’ll be really pleased if he stays. All the players and his teammates want him to stay. If we keep Xabi I will be very pleased.’
   Alonso has received rapturous support from fans in Singapore and is expected to play some part in their game against the national team here today after failing to take the field against Thailand on Wednesday.
   He has been valued by Liverpool at around 36 million euros, but Real Madrid have reportedly offered less.

Los Angeles Galaxy’s David Beckham was slapped with a $1,000 fine on Friday for provoking his own team’s fans during the Galaxy’s 2-2 draw with AC Milan at the Home Depot Centre.
   Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber fined the Galaxy midfielder for his part in an ugly halftime scene where he allegedly challenged abusive Los Angeles fans to come down onto the field.
   ‘We support our players interacting with fans, whether it is at clinics, charity events or by high-fiving their supporters in the stands while celebrating a goal,’ Garber said.
   ‘However, our players should never engage in conduct that can be interpreted as encouraging fans to come out of the stands and onto the field, regardless of the reason.’
   Video footage of the incident of the July 19 exhibition game also apparently shows Beckham trying to climb over a sideline railing before being stopped by security guards.
   Police arrested a fan who left the stands to meet Beckham’s alleged challenge.
   Beckham has incurred the wrath of Galaxy fans who say he is overpaid and refer to him a part-time player because of his side-trips to Europe to play for other teams.

Carlo Ancelotti has warned Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez that he will rise above their mind games and win a stunning Barclays Premier League and Champions League double in his first season in English football.
   The new Chelsea manager, who spent last season locked in a bitter rivalry with Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho, said he is
   battle-hardened enough to see off the Manchester United and Liverpool managers.
   Ancelotti is used to working under pressure and had no hesitation in targeting a domestic and European double in his debut season at Stamford Bridge.
   Asked what he would consider a success in his first campaign, he said: ‘The Premier League or the Champions League, or maybe even both. It won’t be easy but we will try to do it.’
   The former AC Milan manager is familiar with the type of mind games which prompted last season’s bitter exchanges between Ferguson and Benitez as they duelled for supremacy in England.
   Ancelotti said: ‘It happens all over the world, exactly the same. I will say this: little things worry little minds. I don’t care about that. I had a little bit with Mourinho. But it’s not something that bothers me.
   ‘What I worry about is getting the team ready, preparing the team to beat my opponents, to win against Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal.‘I have respect for all of them. I like to play in the Premier League because it’s such an important championship and I want to win something.
   ‘It is not just about the Premier League. It’s also about Europe where we are in a position where we also want to win.’

New Manchester City recruit Emmanuel Adebayor has blamed his decision to leave Arsenal on his poor relationship with the club’s fans.
   The Togo international was booed by sections of the Gunners faithful last term after a summer which saw him strongly linked with a move from the Emirates Stadium. AC Milan were favourites then but no move materialised.
   Instead, Adebayor claims the supporters’ reaction to the rumours merely ensured he would leave this year, with City on hand with a reported £25m transfer fee.
   Adebayor said: ‘The way the fans behaved towards me was not nice at all. I can’t understand why they were after me. I did my best for them and I was very happy there.
   ‘I scored 30 goals in a season – it’s not my fault that Milan, Barcelona or Real Madrid wanted to sign me. In any summer, Barcelona try to sign Cesc Fabregas. But the fans never turned on him
   ‘I know a lot of people will say “he’s gone for the money”. But I would like to see one Arsenal fan who worked somewhere for £10 and was offered work elsewhere for £30 to say they would refuse.
   ‘Yes, they offered me a very fine contract and I have signed it. Now it’s about what I can achieve as a footballer.
   ‘I come from a very poor city and country. I have a lot of ambition. I’ve had a career, but I only ever think about going up.’
   Adebayor claims it was manager Arsene Wenger’s decision to accept City’s bid, although he has denied the relationship between the pair has now been fractured.
   ‘When I came back from holiday, I landed on July 13 and my agent told me I was going to speak with the club,’ he told The Sun. ‘When I did he told me they had come to an agreement with another club.
   ‘It was a difficult decision to make. But I went away and thought now is the time for another challenge. It took about a week to sort everything out.
   ‘[Wenger] didn’t really say why they wanted to sell me, but I found out that they needed the money and someone had to leave - that was me.
   ‘Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger put me where I am today but he cannot stand up and say last summer I told him I wanted to leave. I told him I wanted to stay. I don’t think our relationship is broken. I think they need the money and need to sell someone.
   ‘They chose me and they got their money. I hope they spend it quite well and go forward. I sent them my regards.
   ‘Now I have left Arsenal that is all behind me. It’s finished. I was very happy there, they made me what I am today. But I am a Manchester City player and I have to focus on what I can do at this club.’

Australia’s Scott McDonald scored twice as Celtic warmed up for their Champions League qualifier against Dinamo Moscow by thrashing African champions Al Ahly 5-0 in the Wembley Cup on Friday.
   Tony Mowbray’s side face Dinamo in the first leg at Parkhead on Wednesday and the Russians will have to make special plans to stop McDonald after a typically dynamic display from the striker in the opening match of the pre-season tournament at England’s national stadium.
   After Italian midfielder Massimo Donati opened the scoring, McDonald won and scored the first half penalty that put Celtic in control.
   Shaun Maloney added a third after the break before McDonald struck again with a superb effort and New Zealand striker Chris Killen completed the rout late on.
   A 15-minute cameo from England Under-21 defender Daniel Fox, signed from Coventry just hours earlier, gave former West Brom boss Mowbray further cause for optimism heading into his first season at Parkhead.
   Celtic are back at Wembley on Sunday when they face Tottenham, whose first match of the tournament against Barcelona comes later Friday.
   ‘We got what we wanted out of it,’ Mowbray said. ‘The team worked really hard to get their fitness levels up and the biggest positive was our possession.
   ‘I had a moan at the forwards after the goalless draw at Cardiff in midweek and they reacted well. We scored a couple of very good goals.
   ‘But I don’t think signing Dan Fox means the end of the spending. We always keep an eye out for areas we can improve the team.’
   The Hoops were on top from the start. McDonald went close twice in quick succession before Marc-Antoine Fortune hit the bar and Maloney struck the post from the rebound.
   Celtic eased ahead in the 31st minute after some woeful defending from Ahmed Ali allowed Donati to jink into the penalty area, round Amir Abdel Hameed and produce a cool finish.
   Mowbray’s men increased their lead in the 39th minute after McDonald, running onto Aiden McGeady’s pass, was brought down in the penalty area by Abdel Hameed.
   The Australian dusted himself down and squeezed home the spot-kick via a post.
   Maloney put the result beyond doubt four minutes after half-time when the winger drove in a clever near-post shot that left Abdel Hameed rooted to the spot. It got even worse for Al Ahly as McDonald claimed his second goal with a curling strike in the 59th minute before Killen tapped home after 83 minutes.
   Hossam El-Badry, the first Egyptian to take charge of Al Ahly for 17 years, could take nothing from his team’s half-hearted effort and he has plenty to work on before the Cairo club begin their bid for a sixth successive Egyptian championship.
   El-Badry said: ‘All the goals we conceded were from simple mistakes but it is a good experience for us.
   ‘The main thing for us in this tournament is to learn from playing against teams like Celtic.’

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez hailed Steven Gerrard Saturday after he was cleared of an alleged assault, voicing confidence that his captain would be mentally ready for the new season.
   Gerrard was accused of being part of a group that injured a man at the Lounge Inn nightclub in Southport, near Liverpool, northwest England, on December 29.
   Gerrard was found not guilty on Friday and celebrated his high-profile acquittal by playing for the Liverpool reserves just hours later.
   The England star scored a goal in their 2-2 draw against neighbours Tranmere Rovers, but Benitez said he will not travel to Singapore to join the rest of the squad for the final days of their Asian tour.
   ‘We are really, really pleased with the news which means he can now play football and focus on football,’ said Benitez.
   ‘But the plan is to rest him and he will start again next week.’
   His non-appearance in Thailand and Singapore put a dampener on their much-hyped Asian swing with some fans upset after his image was used prominently in promotional material to sell tickets.
   His court date was set before the trip to Asia was announced.
   Benitez said he hoped supporters understood that, despite the trial being over, Gerrard needed to be treated with care as the new season was just weeks away.
   ‘We were in touch with him every day and knew what was happening and we were confident everything would be okay,’ he said.
   ‘Now we need to take care of him, he must rest.
   ‘I have to protect my players. We have already lost two to injury (defender Martin Skrtel and forward Nabil El Zhar). I’m sorry for the fans that we can’t bring Gerrard but he is the captain of the team so he is a key player for the rest of the season.
   ‘I hope the fans can respect the decision. We have other big names like (Pepe) Reina, (Xabi) Alonso, Fernando (Torres) and (Javier) Mascherano and they are all here.’
   Asked if Gerrard would be mentally ready for the new campaign given the stress he has been under, Benitez said: ‘He’s alright, he scored a goal against Tranmere on Friday night.’
   Gerrard said in a brief statement that he wanted to put the case behind him.
   ‘I’m really looking forward to the season ahead and concentrating on football,’ he said.
   Meanwhile, reserve team coach John McMahon hailed Gerrard’s ‘world class’ contribution in the Tranmere match, saying he was delighted with the impact he made in a 64-minute appearance.
   ‘Steven is different class and he wanted to play,’ he told the Liverpool website.
   ‘He was a real inspiration to the young players and they can learn from playing alongside a world class player like him.
   ‘He is a model professional and his attitude in the dressing room before the game and at half-time was fantastic. Young lads look up to Steven and they can only learn from that.’
   Gerrard is likely to rejoin the team for their friendly against Espanyol on August 2.

Manches-ter United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said Saturday new signing Michael Owen could net 15 goals in the coming season as the veteran coach targets a record fourth consecutive Premier League crown.
   Ferguson has handed Owen the legendary number seven shirt, worn by greats such as Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Ronaldo, and believes the England international can pose a major goal threat.
   Ferguson, speaking after the arrival here of the Red Devils for the final match of their Asian tour, said the former Newcastle United player had a great goalscoring pedigree and even continued to find the net in the past two years when his Newcastle side struggled.
   ‘I hope he gets plenty,’ said the Scot, when asked how many goals Owen would score for his new side.
   ‘If he plays 25 games for me next season I think he’ll get 15 goals,’ he added.
   Owen, 29, joined the Premier League champions on a free transfer earlier this month.
   His move to Old Trafford was met with scepticism by some after a series of injuries robbed the former Liverpool and Real Madrid star of the lightning pace that had been such a crucial part of his armoury.
   But he has enjoyed a good start to his United career, bagging a goal in both of the Red Devils’ games in Malaysia.
   Even with the departure this summer of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, competition up front remains fierce, with Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and teenaged Federico Macheda vying for starting spots.
   Ferguson said he had been rotating the four strikers during the Asian tour in a bid to test his options, particularly with the arrival of Owen and the emergence of Macheda, 17.
   ‘We have to find out and understand the best possible combinations for those four players,’ he said.
   Ryan Giggs also backed Owen to shine, saying the club had signed a ‘proven world-class striker’.
   ‘It’s true we have lost Cristiano and Carlos, who over the last couple of years especially have been important and great players for the club, but that’s what’s so great about Manchester United.
   ‘We lose great players and the club doesn’t stand still. We still look forward.’
   United wrap up their Asian tour with a match against Hangzhou Greentown today and are looking for a clean sweep after two wins in Malaysia and one in South Korea.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has admitted that former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira is keen to quit Inter Milan for a shock move to White Hart Lane.
   Vieira earned hero status at Arsenal during his nine-year spell with the Gunners, but the France midfielder is looking for regular first-team action after falling out of favour at Inter and Redknapp believes he would gladly join his former club’s bitter rivals.
   If Vieira does sign for Spurs, he would risk angering Arsenal fans who regard him as a legend, but Redknapp insisted that wouldn’t stop the 33-year-old returning to north London.
   ‘I’m still interested in Patrick, I would like him,’ Redknapp said. ‘What’s he done wrong? He hasn’t killed anyone, he’s just a great player who played for Arsenal.
   ‘If he wants to come to Tottenham it shows you about his character. He’s not interested in money. He wants to come and play, he’s a fantastic player and wants to play here.’
   Redknapp’s priority at the moment is to find cover at centre-back after Jonathan Woodgate joined Ledley King and Michael Dawson on the injury list this week.
   All three could miss the start of the season but Redknapp also wants a defensive midfielder to protect his back four and has enquired about Real Madrid’s Lassana Diarra as well as Vieira.
   Redknapp also admitted he would still consider buying Peter Crouch from Portsmouth if his former club lower their asking price for the England striker.
   ‘I’m still interested in Crouchy but the whole package looks a bit expensive at the moment,’ Redknapp said. ‘I don’t want to tell Portsmouth how much to ask for Peter, that’s up to them.’
   Redknapp’s injury-hit side were out-played for long periods by an under-strength Barcelona team missing Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Xavi among others.
   But they still emerged from the pre-season Wembley Cup friendly with a 1-1 draw thanks to a late equaliser from teenage midfielder Jake Livermore.
   Livermore has yet to make his competitive debut for Spurs, but he had signed a new contract keeping him at the club until 2011 earlier in the day and he came off the bench to cancel out Bojan Krkic’s opener with a looping header.
   Tottenham play their second Wembley Cup match against Celtic on Sunday but Redknapp knows the Scottish club are unlikely to pose such a stern test as Barcelona.
   ‘It’s very difficult to play under that pressure,’ Redknapp said. ‘The whole club is a credit to football. People will only talk about their passing but I saw the other side of their game.’
   With his defensive injury crisis in mind, Redknapp tried Vedran Corluka, Tom Huddlestone, Pascal Chimbonda and Dorian Dervite at centre-back but wasn’t completely convinced by any of the partnerships.
   ‘I haven’t got a lot of options,’ Redknapp added. ‘It was difficult with the movement they had to deal with. It was a different system, unlike a team from England when they would have a big centre-forward to play against.’

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has backed Italian teenage star Federico Macheda to make a real impact at the club this season after a brace of goals during their Asian tour.
   The 17-year-old, who already has hero status after scoring a stunning injury-time winner on his debut against Aston Villa in April, struck his second goal in as many starts during United’s pre-season tour in Friday’s 3-2 win over FC Seoul.
   Ferguson may see Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and fresh signing Michael Owen as his main striking options for the English Premier League champions but he rates the Italian highly.
   ‘The goal Macheda scored was excellent,’ Ferguson said following the match, according to the official Manchester United website.
   ‘The lad has a real chance. His movement is very good and he does well when he gets onto the shoulder of the last defender.
   ‘He took his goal very well. It’s pleasing to see our strikers scoring – obviously the main players are Rooney, Berbatov and Owen and I’m very comfortable with that.
   ‘But if Macheda continues his progress then it gives me a big advantage. An extra player like that will do us the world of good.’

The father of a 12-year-old boy who last week became the world’s youngest professional footballer has been fired as coach of the Bolivian first division side.
   Former World Cup star Julio Cesar Baldivieso has been forced out by bosses of his club Aurora for refusing to obey orders from club directors to leave the boy out of the squad.
   Baldivieso also withdrew his son Mauricio, who turned 13 years on Wednesday this week, from the club.
   ‘For internal club reasons, we’ve decided to part company with coach (Julio Cesar) Baldivieso,’ Aurora president Jose Luis Montano said.
   This followed the controversy which surrounded Mauricio’s appearance as a substitute for the final ten minutes of a 1-0 defeat against La Paz last Sunday. There is no minimum age limit in professional football in Bolivia.
   ‘My dad told me that he’d start me if we won, things turned out differently but he brought me on,’ said Mauricio.
   After participating in four crosses Mauricio was stretchered off after receiving a knock to the back of his ankle before returning to the pitch, an incident which resulted in uproar.
   His father was severely criticised by doctors in particular who believe the growing youngster could suffer serious long term injuries which could eventually hamper his career.
   Baldivieso, however, insisted that Mauricio would stay at the club until the end of the season at least.
   He slammed club bosses for failing to recognise his son’s potential and accused Bolivian footballing authorities of ‘cutting down young talent’ in favour of foreigners.
   Mauricio said he was committed to the game.
   ‘There’s no age for football. I am determined to make it, 200 per cent,’ Mauricio told AFP, from Cochabamba in Bolivia.
   ‘My father is my hero. But one day I want to play in Spain or England – for Real Madrid or Manchester United.’