Kolkata Knight Riders (129/7) beat Bangalore Royal Challengers (124/4) by five runs
   Desperately seeking points after a string of losses the Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers, two of the IPL’s struggling but high-profile teams, produced a fascinating, if low-scoring, contest that was decided in Kolkata’s favour off the penultimate ball. Their second encounter lacked the batting heroics of the first but there was plenty of brilliance in the field and with ball in a rain-shortened match that ended way past midnight.
   The day began with Kolkata celebrating the birthday of its greatest son, Rabindranath Tagore, and ended with a crowd of thousands, braving a typical seasonal thundershower, delighting in the exploits of its current favourite as Sourav Ganguly led with the ball to revive his side’s hopes in the tournament.
   Ganguly had limped to a run-a-ball 20 with the bat, but his miserly spell - 3 for 7 from three overs - choked a stumbling chase of 130 in 16 overs that, despite a flurry towards the end from Mark Boucher, was always behind the eight ball. It was Ganguly’s canny bowling, after Brad Hodge produced a superb direct hit from backward point to get rid of J Arunkumar, that perhaps decided the outcome. Bangalore’s top order failed to keep pace and Ganguly, clearly charged up by the occasion, struck a huge blow by bowling his opposite number Rahul Dravid. By the time Ganguly was done Bangalore needed 78 off 36 balls, a near-impossible task.
   Cameron White and Boucher played good hands, the latter almost pulling off a win, but Bangalore’s top order had left them with a bit too much to do. White cut loose to take 15 runs off the 11th over from Laxmi Ratan Shukla, eight came off the next from the next from Ashok Dinda, and another 15 off Umar Gul kept them in line with the asking-rate. Ishant Sharma just gave five off the 14th, and when White was run out backing up too far at the non-striker’s end by Murali Kartik, it seemed a done case. Boucher, whose 26 had needed 30 deliveries, then scored 24 off just 10, but Bangalore still fell five runs short.
   Bangalore’s top-order mess needs to be addressed, but their effort in the field after Kolkata decided to bat was heartening. Aakash Chopra, the former India opener, came in to bolster a struggling top order but didn’t make much of an impact, lbw to Dale Steyn, and Hodge fell pulling Zaheer Khan. If he looked smooth with the ball, Ganguly wasn’t as much with the bat. Off the mark with an uppish drive for four and tangled by a short one from Praveen Kumar, he nudged around for 20 and was the first of two run-outs in Kolkata’s innings, White pulling off a direct hit.
   The going had been slow for Kolkata, and David Hussey tried to step it up, lofting a Praveen slower delivery over long-off, before placing the following delivery through extra-cover. He launched Anil Kumble for two consecutive sixes, but a good throw from Steyn cut him off. Tatenda Taibu got his first game but went early, top-edging Steyn, who then picked up a third when Shulka chopped onto his stumps.
   An embarrassing goof-up delayed play ahead of Steyn’s final over, the 14th of the innings, with only one bowler allowed to bowl four. The scorers and umpires mixed up the two Kumars, and had R Vinay with four overs bowled and Praveen with one, instead of three and two. Dravid, taking the walkie-talkie from one of the on-field umpires, pleaded his case and Steyn finally got to bowl. Wriddhiman Saha and Murali Kartik added 34 quick runs, the highest partnership of the innings, and Kolkata finished on 129.

Andrew Flintoff says he is ready to return for England in the first Test against New Zealand next week despite his dismal form with the bat this season. Flintoff was bundled out for a pair this week in Lancashire’s match against Durham, but his bowling has been sharp since he came back from his fourth ankle operation.
   ‘I definitely feel I could play a Test match now,’ Flintoff told the Sun. ‘I’ve missed a lot of international cricket in the past, so I’m itching to play for England once more. My bowling in both forms of the game has been going very well. The ball is coming out nicely and there have been no ill-effects or twinges in the ankle, which is a big relief.’
   Flintoff has not played a Test since he captained England to a 5-0 Ashes loss in Australia, a series that ended 16 months ago. The squad to take on New Zealand at Lord’s starting next Thursday will be announced on Sunday and one of the major decisions for the selectors is whether they will rush Flintoff in, and if so, who is squeezed out.
   His bowling form suggests he could be in the mix; he picked up 4 for 21 in the first innings against Durham and followed it with 3 for 7 late on the second day. But choosing him as an allrounder might be risky as he has made County Championship scores of 23, 0, 0 and 0, combined with one-day efforts of 27, 10 and 8 this season.
   ‘In the nets, I’m hitting the ball fine,’ Flintoff said. ‘Anyone can get a first-baller and, in fairness, I got a good delivery from Peter Trego against Somerset and the ball against Durham on Wednesday moved enough to take the edge.
   ‘I still consider myself a batting allrounder. I think I always will. I would say I take more pride in my batting. I just need to get a score and I’ll be fine. If I do play for England again, I’d love to bat as high up the order as I can.
   ‘But I know I’ve not set the world alight with my batting so far, so don’t feel in any position to say where I want to bat. I’d love to have both parts of the game working well, though that’s not possible very often when you’re an all-rounder. Normally, the batting or the bowling is going better.’
   Although several of his county opponents have said Flintoff should be picked for his bowling, there is not unanimous support for the man who has played 14 Tests since the 2005 Ashes without scoring a century or taking five wickets in an innings. Ian Botham believes Flintoff must spend more time playing for Lancashire before playing at international level.
   ‘I would just hold Fred back a bit. I’d like him to play a bit more county cricket,’ Botham told the BBC. ‘I’d like him to have plenty of overs under his belt and plenty of runs as a batsman come the South Africans, because I think that will be a much sterner test.

Even at half past one, they were walking down the Esplanade in their hundreds, discussing ways to get home. Some were still laughing and cheering, while others clutched their black-and-gold flags and moved ahead like zombies. Some carried sleeping infants, while others were exhaling smoky fumes of relief into the cloudy Kolkata sky.
   If that saying about fans getting the team that they deserve was really true, the Knight Riders would win the trophy every year. Not even a fervent Mumbai crowd on a good day can match the Eden Gardens for atmosphere. It is to cricket what Anfield is to European football nights, and even the most committed Bangalore supporter would have been awed by the volume that the crowd summoned up despite a couple of stands being largely empty.
   Make no mistake, this was a battle for IPL survival. Bangalore’s far-from-royal challenge is now surely over, while the slender victory gives Kolkata the chance to dream again. With four home matches to come, and 80,000 Electric Light Orchestra members in the background to cheer every ball, who’s to say what might happen?
   Sourav Ganguly, the man of the match after a bowling display reminiscent of his Toronto heroics from a decade ago, had no doubt that the crowd had played a massive part in the five-run victory. ‘You could see the intensity in the field,’ he said with a smile. He had played his part there too, with a stunning reflex stop after Mark Boucher had driven the ball straight back at him.
   In the end, it all came down to one stroke, or the lack of it, and Bangalore will once again look back at a game where they were clearly second-best in the field. The Knight Riders threw themselves around, and according to Ganguly’s reckoning, they saved ‘at least 15 to 20 runs’. The highlight was of course Brad Hodge’s magnificent stop-pick-up-and-throw to run-out J Arunkumar, though Murali Kartik’s ice-cool dismissal of Cameron White also rates a mention.
   Given what was at stake in this game, it was almost inevitable that the main post-match question would be about that ball. Ganguly grinned like a Cheshire cat before composing himself. ‘Look, these are small things in a game,’ he said, when asked about the delivery that sent Rahul Dravid’s leg stump for a stroll. ‘It was an important game for him as well.’
   There was no doubt though which captain had come out on top. Ganguly’s spell was the much-needed tourniquet after Arunkumar had briefly made Kolkata bleed, and it coincided with Dravid’s 11-ball five, the last thing Bangalore needed in a high-pressure chase. And while Boucher may have finished with an unbeaten 50 from 40 balls, he managed only four from the 11 deliveries that Ganguly bowled to him.
   With Ganguly sending the crowd into raptures and Ishant Sharma holding his nerve in the final two overs of his spell, it was forgotten just how well a new face had set the tone for this team of international stars. ‘He’s a young prospect who’s always had something about him,’ Ganguly said, when asked about Ashok Dinda, who nearly matched Dale Steyn when it came to consistently clocking around 140kph. ‘I picked him up from nowhere for a Duleep Trophy game [in 2005]. I think he’d played only one Ranji match at the time. He has pace and he can swing the ball.’
   Dinda certainly doesn’t have the conventional fast bowler’s build, but a dramatic leap as he nears the crease and a whippy arm action help him generate plenty of pace. He’s also fairly accurate, and an economy rate of 6.00 after seven games is something that some of the established international stars must be dreaming of.
   For young men like Dinda and Wriddhiman Saha, who once again played a massive part with the bat, the IPL is about far more than the money. If Shoaib Akhtar is fit, Dinda may not even play the next game. But if Ganguly does trust his instincts and throw the ball his way, you can be sure he won’t let the side down. The 80,000 faithful make him ten feet tall and give his deliveries wings of speed. More than anything else, that has been the greatest success of this tournament.

The International Cricket Council issued an official warning to the Indian board on Friday over the sub-standard pitch used for last month’s final Test against South Africa in Kanpur.
   The home team, trailing 1-0 ahead of that third Test, clinched a series-levelling win in three days on a dusty Green Park pitch where the ball spun and jumped from the start.
   India romped to an eight-wicket win with 32 wickets tumbling.
   The ICC sought an explanation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India after match referee Roshan Mahanama reported that the pitch was not up to Test-match standards.
   ‘We have come to a decision that the pitch prepared for the match should be rated as ‘poor,’’ ICC general manager cricket Dave Richardson said in an official statement.
   ‘We’ve taken into consideration the explanations offered by the BCCI as to the reasons for the dryness of the pitch and we have noted that there is no previous record of a sub-standard pitch being prepared in Kanpur.’
   The ICC has the power to impose a fine or even suspend the international status for the venue in case of repeated offences.
   The Indian board promised to improve the pitch.
   ‘I can assure everyone we will take all steps necessary to ensure this does not happen in the future,’ Indian board secretary Niranjan Shah said.

Bangladesh ended their campaign in the Women’s Asia Cup Cricket with a huge nine-wicket defeat against hosts Sri Lanka at the Welagedara Stadium in Kurunegala on Friday.
   Sent in to bat first, Bangladesh were bundled out for 120 in 49.3 overs which Sri Lanka easily overhauled scoring 123-1 with more than 24 overs to spare. Opener Dedunu Silva remained unbeaten on 66 to win the player of the match award. Rumana Ahmed claimed the only Sri Lankan wicket to fall.
   After losing both the openers with seven runs on the board, Bangladesh could never pose any threat to Sri Lanka, though the middle-order batswomen tried their best with one-down Ayesha Akther making the highest 30 runs.
   Skipper Salma Khatun, who scored two fifties previously in the competition, made 19 runs while Chamely Khatun also contributed 19 and Irine Sultana chipped in with 18. Janakanthy Mala did most of the damage scalping three wickets for only nine runs in her 10 overs.
   Bangladesh lost all but one of the six games they played in the four-team meet.

Bangladesh crashed to a 2-1 defeat against Kyrgyzstan in the last group C match of the AFC Challenge Cup at the Bishkek stadium on Friday.
   Bangladesh took the lead through Emily on 63 minutes, but conceded two goals in the 83rd and 87th minutes to finish last in the group. Afghanistan qualified for the final round with four points ahead of hosts Kyrgyzstan, who ended their campaign with three points.
   On a sunny day at the Bishkek Spartak stadium, the hosts dominated the first half and created two clear chances but Bangladesh shot-stopper Aminul stood firm in their way. Ruslan Jamshedov’s fierce grounder was brilliantly saved by Aminul while Igor Kurnenko shot straight at the keeper.
   Bangladesh started brightly in the second half as Emily scored the lone goal for his team in the competition in the 63rd minute. However, Bangladesh’s dream of a win evaporated when Kyrgyzstan scored two goals in five minutes. Kornilov scored the equaliser and Sydykov broke the Bangladesh heart three minutes before the long whistle.
   Bangladesh drew their first match 0-0 with Afghanistan, while Kyrgyzstan suffered a shock 0-1 defeat against Afghanistan in their opening game.
   Afghanistan will join Sri Lanka and the winners of group B and D in the finals which will also feature DPR Korea, Turkmenistan, hosts India and Myanmar as direct entrants.
   The winners of the 2008 and 2010 editions of the AFC Challenge Cup will qualify directly for the 2012 AFC Asian Cup in Doha, Qatar.

Australia will play three Tests, five one-day internationals and two Pro20 matches on their tour of South Africa from February to April next year, Cricket South Africa announced on Friday.
   Australia open their tour on February 20 with a three-day warm-up match against South Africa A in Potchefstroom, the only time they will not be playing the national team.
   The three Tests will be played in the ‘traditional venues’ of Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, the CSA statement said.
   Itinerary
   Tour match v South Africa A: February 20-22, Potchefstroom
   1st Test: February 26-March 2, Wanderers, Johannesburg
   2nd Test: March 6-10, Kingsmead, Durban
   3rd Test: March 19-23, Newlands, Cape Town
   1st Twenty20: March 27, Wanderers, Johannesburg
   2nd Twenty20: March 29, SuperSport Park, Centurion
   1st ODI: April 3, Kingsmead, Durban
   2nd ODI: April 5, SuperSport Park, Centurion
   3rd ODI: April 9, Newlands, Cape Town
   4th ODI: April 13, St. George’s, Port Elizabeth
   5th ODI: April 17, Wanderers, Johannesburg.

New Zealand cricket coach John Bracewell will step down when his contract expires in April next year, New Zealand Cricket said Friday.
   ‘John has informed me that he will not be looking to extend his contract for another term and will instead pursue other coaching opportunities in cricket,’ New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said.
   Bracewell, a former off-spinner who took 102 wickets in 41 Tests for New Zealand, has previously said he is interested in returning to coaching English county cricket.
   The 50-year-old, currently in England with the touring New Zealand team, coached Gloucestershire for five years before taking up the top New Zealand post in 2003.
   Vaughan paid tribute to Bracewell, who has sometimes been a controversial figure for his aggressive style, saying he had produced some tremendous results, ‘most notably in the one-day game’.
   New Zealand Cricket would start looking internationally for a replacement. ‘We currently have an extremely talented group of players with some really exciting individuals entering the international game,’ Vaughan said.

Mohammedan Sporting Club lost their first point in the Green Delta Insurance Premier Division Hockey League when they were held 2-2 by Sonali Bank at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey stadium on Friday.
   Sonali Bank enjoyed a 1-0 first half lead. Iqbal Nader Prince and Rimon Kumar scored one goal each for Sonali Bank. Zahid Bin Talib Shuvo and Mohammad Abdus Sajjad John netted the goals for Mohammedan.
   Both Mohammedan and Sonali Bank have an equal 10 points from their four matches.
   In the day’s other match, Mariner Youngs’ Club registered their first victory with a 4-0 drubbing of Wari Club, who are yet to win a game.
   Ranjan struck twice while Prashanta Kumar Sarker and Rajibul Hasan Issa netted one goal apiece for Mariner Club.

Australian vice captain Michael Clarke has delayed his departure for the West Indies due to family reasons and his participation in the tour remains in doubt, officials said Friday.
   Cricket Australia said Clarke had been given compassionate leave to remain in Sydney for ‘private family reasons’ and would not leave for the Caribbean with his teammates on Saturday.
   ‘Clarke’s arrival date in the West Indies is currently unclear,’ CA said in a statement.
   Michael Hussey would assume the role of vice captain until Clarke arrived, CA said, shortly before announcing Brad Hodge would be a ‘shadow player’ replacing the missing batsman on tour.
   ‘Despite the circumstances it is a huge honour to be given the role of vice captain, even if it may only be for a short period of time,’ Hussey said.
   The Australian newspaper’s website said Clarke was remaining in Sydney due to the failing health of his fiancee’s father.
   Australia will play the first Test in the West Indies in Jamaica on May 22, moving to Antigua for the second from May 30 and the final Test in Barbados on June 12.
   The tour will also include one Twenty20 international and five-one dayers.

Avram Grant believes Chelsea deserve to rip the Premier League from Manchester United’s grasp because they have played better football than the leaders when the pressure has been most intense.
   Grant’s side are level on points with United and will clinch the English title if they beat Bolton and Sir Alex Ferguson’s team draw or lose at Wigan in Sunday’s dramatic finale.
   The Chelsea boss is adamant that would be the right outcome after the way his team have sprinted to the finish line with a 20-match unbeaten run that included thrilling victories over Arsenal and United.
   Ferguson may beg to differ as United’s vastly superior goal difference, which will guarantee them the title if they see off Wigan, suggests the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez have provided the most thrills and spills.
   But Grant said: ‘I think in the last month we have been playing the best football. We have played it at the right time against really big teams and managers.
   ‘Alex said two or three months ago that this is the best Manchester United team since he was coaching. But if they take the title it will be on goal difference so we have given them a good battle. I’m very proud of the players.
   ‘I’m not surprised because I’m with the team every day. I know nobody expected that we would come to this stage but we believed all the time.
   ‘The players showed good character and quality. They recovered when we didn’t have good moments. It is not easy when you have to chase, chase, chase.
   ‘We played good most of the time but we have developed in the last month in games that were important to us.’
   With so much at stake, Ferguson has turned to the mind games again but Grant scoffed at his rival’s suggestion that Chelsea would have an easy ride against Bolton on Sunday because the Wanderers players have been out celebrating after almost securing their survival.
   While Wigan have nothing to play for, Bolton could actually still go down if they suffer a heavy defeat at Stamford Bridge and Grant is convinced Gary Megson’s men, like Wigan, won’t roll over.
   ‘Alex knows everything! I like and respect him but we know why he says things sometimes. I don’t think he knows what’s happening in Bolton,’ Grant said.
   ‘I think Bolton are almost safe but I don’t think they will play like the game is not important. They will try to do their best.
   ‘Wigan didn’t lose at home since January, they played fantastic against us and they know they are in the spotlight. All over the world everybody is watching so I think they will do their best.’
   Grant faces a nervous wait to see if Ricardo Carvalho will be fit in time to feature against Bolton. Carvalho suffered a back injury when he landed awkwardly following an aerial challenge in Monday’s win at Newcastle and Grant admitted the Portugal defender still hadn’t trained by Friday.
   If Chelsea do have to settle for second place they can quickly get revenge by beating United in the Champions League final in Moscow on May 21.
   Satisfying Roman Ambramovich’s desire to see Chelsea reach their first final of Europe’s elite club competition has given Grant a degree of leeway he has rarely enjoyed since taking over from Jose Mourinho in September.
   Grant would love to get his hands on both trophies but he made it clear if he had to choose one, then he would go for success in Europe.
   ‘I said when I first came here that our first priority was to be in the final of the Champions League because it is history for the club and a big statement that we have improved our game,’ Grant said.
   ‘But when you come to the bridge you want to go to the other side so we want to win on Sunday and on May 21.’

New Zealand continued their impressive build-up to next week’s opening Test by undermining the claims of a trio of England hopefuls in their final warm-up match at the Rose Bowl on Thursday.
   Facing an England Lions side including eight internationals, the tourists looked set for the toughest test of their tour so far having boosted spirits with a convincing victory over Essex last week.
   But after struggling through the morning session as the Lions survived unscathed until lunch, New Zealand bounced back strongly after losing the toss and dismissed England for 280 despite a defiant 120 from Luke Wright.
   It was an impressive performance just a week before the start of the npower Test series at Lord’s, particularly with a line-up missing injured captain Daniel Vettori and rested seamer Kyle Mills.
   Their display also damaged the hopes of leading trio Rob Key, Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara - widely regarded as the next batsmen in line should England decide to change their mis-firing top order - in front of coach Peter Moores and National Selector Geoff Miller.
   Kent batsman Key, who was leading the Lions, showed great application during a 49-run stand with Hampshire’s Michael Carberry which appeared to have laid the foundation for a major England total during a painstaking opening session.
   Just four balls after lunch, however, Key’s 123-minute knock was ended when he was given lbw for 23 to Chris Martin attempting to force through mid-wicket.
   Key’s innings was the most successful of the trio hoping to gain an England recall, with Middlesex batsman Shah falling in Martin’s next over when he pushed forward defensively and edged behind for three.
   Bopara fell just five overs later when he attempted to leave a ball outside off stump from young seamer Tim Southee but instead got an inside edge onto his stumps for seven.
   The manner of their dismissals set the tone for the Lions innings with Matt Prior, another player with a point to prove after being discarded as England’s wicketkeeper during the winter, driving Martin tamely to gully for 10 to earn him his third victim.
   Carberry, one of the big successes during the Lions tour to India last winter, had played a determined innings, taking 65 balls before registering his first boundary and taking 44 overs to score 41.
   His resistance was broken when he mis-timed an attempted drive off seamer Iain O’Brien and looped the ball to mid-off to become England’s fifth wicket to fall in a 13-over spell, plunging them into trouble at 89 for five.
   It took a determined partnership between Sussex all-rounder Wright and Yorkshire’s Adil Rashid to prevent complete capitulation after they defied New Zealand for 25 overs during their 81-run stand.
   Just as England thought they were on course to recover and register a competitive total, all-rounder Jacob Oram reminded them of his quality with the ball with three wickets in six overs.

As Manchester United and Chelsea prepare for this weekend’s finale to the closest title race for years, we look back at the most nerve-jangling finishes in England’s top divison:
   
   1967-68
   Manchester City have spent most of their exsistence in the shadow of neighbours United but they took centre stage on the last occasion before this season that the English league’s top two entered the final round of fixtures level on points. Matt Busby’s United, who would go on to be European champions just weeks later, lost 2-1 at home to Sunderland, giving City the chance to clinch their second title with a thrilling 4-3 win at Newcastle.
   
   1970-71
   Chelsea manager Avram Grant has used this bizarre title conclusion as proof that Wigan won’t roll over against United on Sunday. Derby were the beneficiaries of English football’s honesty in 1971 when Brian Clough’s side - relaxing on their sunbeds in Spain after finishing their fixtures - heard that Leeds had lost their final match against Wolverhampton, who had nothing to play for, handing the Rams the title by a point.
   1988-89
   Arguably the greatest title showdown in English football history was won by Geroge Graham’s Arsenal at the end of an emotionally charged season marred by the Hillsborough disaster that killed 96 Liverpool fans. With the rest of the
   campaign finished a quirk of the fixture list meant second-placed Arsenal met leaders Liverpool in the last game of the
   season. Only a 2-0 win would be enough for the Gunners to snatch the crown and Alan Smith’s header put them on course. Liverpool held out after that and were within seconds of retaining the title until Michael Thomas burst through to score a sensational last minute winner that gave Arsenal the title on goals scored.
   
   1994-95
   If any United players show signs of taking Wigan for granted, Sir Alex Ferguson
   should remind them of this epic last day drama. United
   kicked off at West Ham needing leaders Blackburn to lose at Liverpool, while Ferguson’s team had to beat West
   Ham. Blackburn were cruising when they took the lead and United fell behind but Liverpool fought back to win in the last minute. Only West Ham keeper Ludek Miklosko hadn’t read the script and his brilliant display denied United a winner and the title.

Sven-Goran Eriksson has publicly admitted for the first time that he could be leaving Manchester City at the end of the season.
   Ahead of City’s final game of the season, at Middlesbrough on Sunday, Eriksson declined to go into any detail about his future after it emerged that the club’s owner Thasksin Shinawatra wants to replace him.
   But he did acknowledge that his time at City could be over. ‘It is a possibility, of course it is,’ said the former England boss.
   ‘It is not a secret to anyone in the world of football. But we will see, nothing is confirmed. Let’s play the last game and have a little bit of patience. The fact is we will probably know next week.’
   Eriksson admitted earlier this week that he was considering an offer to take over as head coach at Benfica, a role he has twice filled successfully in the past.
   But he is understood to have a preference for remaining in England or moving to Italy.
   Thaksin has grown disillusioned with Eriksson over the course of a season which City started very strongly only to fade over the second half of the campaign.
   The club nevertheless is on track to secure a place in the UEFA Cup next season after England was granted an extra place for topping European football’s Fair Play league. Barring a rash of bookings in the Middlesbrough match, that place will go to City as they currently top England’s Fair Play league.
   City are on course to finish Eriksson’s first season in charge at least ninth in the Premier League table, a significant improvement on their 14th-placed finish to the 2006-07 campaign.

The European Parliament dealt another blow to FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s controversial plans to curb the number of foreigners at soccer clubs by voting against the proposals on Thursday.
   EU lawmakers rejected Blatter’s ‘6+5 rule’, allowing no more than five foreign players to start a match, by 518 votes to 49 but most backed the ‘home-grown player rule’ of European soccer’s governing body UEFA.
   ‘The parliament calls on the member states and sports associations not to introduce new rules that create direct discrimination based on nationality, such as FIFA’s 6+5,’ the resolution said.
   ‘It calls on the Commission to recognise the legality of measures favouring the promotion of players who have come through training schemes, such as a minimum number of locally-trained players, irrespective of their nationality.’
   FIFA opposes the UEFA rule, which sets a quota of locally-trained players at clubs but without any discrimination on nationality, arguing it encourages recruitment at a young age.
   UEFA says Blatter’s proposal is unworkable in the EU because it contravenes the bloc’s laws on the free movement of workers and could lead to costly legal challenges—a view echoed by the EU assembly.
   ‘Unfortunately the 6+5 rule is not compatible with the free movement of persons in the EU. The European Treaty is very clear on this point: discrimination on the basis of nationality is not allowed and this also counts for football,’ Belgian MEP Ivo Belet, author of the parliament’s report on the future of professional football, told the assembly.
   ‘We therefore ask FIFA to join forces with the European Parliament and the European Commission and fully back the ‘home-grown’ rule.’
   MEPs also slammed Blatter’s idea of reaching a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ with the individual associations at FIFA’s congress later this month, saying he risked a repetition of the 1995 ‘Bosman Ruling’ by the European Court of Justice.

Alexander Hleb, the Belarus midfielder who has been one of Arsenal’s outstanding players this season, is set to follow Mathieu Flamini out of the Emirates Stadium, according to his agent.
   Hleb, 27, has the option of buying himself out of the remainder of his Gunners contract at the end of the season and his agent, Nikolai Shpilevski, has confirmed that is what he intends to do.
   ‘Alexander is preparing to make one of the most important moves of his life,’ Shpilevski said in comments made to the Belarus newspaper Pressball and picked up by British media.
   ‘He is leaving Arsenal even though they want to offer him a new long-term contract and better conditions. Only time will tell if leaving is the right decision, but there’s no way back now. Everything will be cleared up in the next two weeks.’
   Hleb is expected to move to Internazionale, who have been accused by Gunners boss Arsene Wenger of ‘tapping up’ Hleb, a charge the Italian club deny.
   Reacting to the latest reports, Wenger insisted Friday there had been no approach for Hleb and that he expected the player to still be at Arsenal next season.
   ‘You cannot stop people talking but at the moment there is nothing (to discuss),’ he told Arsenal TV. ‘I believe that usually all the players want to stay, and I expect this team to say ‘let’s make a pact together, come back next year and win’.
   ‘That’s what I expect them to do and my priority is to keep the team together, add what I think can help us to even be better and then see from there.’
   Hleb joined Arsenal from Stuttgart in July 2005 for 11.2 million pounds. His first season was marred by injury problems but he has been a first-team regular in the last two campaigns and his dribbling and deft passing have become key components of Arsenal’s ability to open up opposing defences.
   The apparently inevitable loss of Hleb will increase the pressure on Wenger to spend big in the transfer market this summer.
   Arsenal’s French manager has already lost the services of Mathieu Flamini, who departed for AC Milan on a free contract earlier this week, and there must be concern that the exodous will affect the thinking of more valuable assets such as Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor, both of whom are coveted by some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
   Wenger said there was nothing more the club could have done to retain Flamini, who turned down a new contract at Arsenal.
   ‘We put him in the bracket of where we could go (financially), and we made him that offer, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough,’ Wenger said.
   ‘We have to accept that because Mathieu was a good servant of the club for four years and he came without costing any transfer fee and left without costing any transfer fee, so he was free to go.’
   Wenger said Denilson, Abou Diaby and Alex Song were all capable of taking over from Flamini as the holding player in Arsenal’s midfield, and he is optimistic of persuading the previous occupant of the role, Gilberto, to stay at the club.
   The Brazil captain has grown unsettled as a result of his lack of first-team action and Wenger added: ‘I personally would like him to stay but he has to make a decision on that - I want him to feel comfortable.
   ‘I like Gilberto and since he has been playing again he has shown how good he is as a player, but we will see.’

Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that title rivals Chelsea’s final fixture of the season will be against a Bolton side that has ‘been out celebrating all week’ and hit out at claims Manchester United will have it easy at Wigan.
   With the top two on the same number of points, United need to match Chelsea’s result on Sunday to clinch Ferguson’s tenth title on goal difference, and the Scot has been irritated by suggestions his side have the easier task.
   The week has been dominated by claims that Wigan, who are managed by former United defender Steve Bruce, will be easy opposition, having secured their top-flight status.
   But Ferguson thinks that the focus on the Latics has been unfair because it ignores the fact that Bolton, barring a freak set of results on Sunday, have also secured their top flight status following last weekend’s win over Sunderland.
   ‘People have been questioning the integrity of Wigan and nobody has questioned or even mentioned Bolton,’ Ferguson said.
   ‘It’s interesting, the different attitudes because you’ve got Wigan players saying that they want to beat Man United and I have no problem about that, we’re a big club.
   ‘Then you hear about Bolton players out celebrating all week and it amazes me, that change in attitude.
   ‘Both teams are safe, both teams are relaxed, both teams are comfortable but one can celebrate and the other is all keyed up to play against Manchester United.’
   The United boss may have been attempting to put the Bolton players in a position where they will have a point to prove at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
   He emphasised that his comments were not intended to be disrespectful to Bolton manager Gary Megson, or his assistant Archie Knox, who has worked for Ferguson in the past.
   ‘The only thing I think about Bolton and what gives me confidence about them is the manager and the assistant manager,’ Ferguson said.
   ‘I had Archie Knox for a number of years at Aberdeen and at United and I wish he was playing actually because he won’t enjoy having his players out celebrating and Gary Megson won’t enjoy hearing about his players being out celebrating when there’s an important game for the league.
   ‘But I’m confident in these two guys taking their team down to Chelsea. As far as I’m concerned, we’re going to Wigan and it doesn’t matter what Wigan players or Chelsea players are saying. It doesn’t matter.
   ‘They’re saying it for reasons. We’re going to there with a great chance of winning the league. We’re the form team, with good players and fantastic support.’

AS Roma and Inter Milan will battle each other for silverware on two fronts after the capital-based club reached the Coppa Italia final on Thursday.
   Roma held on for a 1-1 draw against Sicilians Catania to go through 2-1 on aggregate following their 1-0 victory in the home leg of their semi-final last month.
   The visitors took the lead on 27 minutes after Macedonia forward Mirko Vucinic was tripped in the area by a stupid lunge from Argentine midfielder Mariano Izco.
   Vucinic was heading away from goal at the time and the chalenge was totally unnecessary but Alberto Acquilani gleefully buried the spot-kick from 12 yards.
   The lead lasted only two minutes, though, as Cristian Silvestri rose unchallenged to head home Giuseppe Mascara’s free-kick for the hosts.
   Roma came closest to scoring in the second half when Simone Perrotta clipped the top of the bar with a half-volley from inside the area.
   It’s the fourth successive Italian Cup final that Roma have qualified for, a source of pride for coach Luciano Spalletti, especially as this year the final will be played as a one-off match at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
   ‘It’s a great satisfaction to play in front of our public,’ he said. ‘It’s a tribute to how the lads have worked.’
   With Inter also reaching the final following a 2-0 aggregate victory over Lazio, the top two in the league will play a repeat of last year’s final, which Roma won. The title could be decided this weekend if Inter beat Siena at home or if Roma lose against Atalanta. But Spalletti has not given up hope.
   ‘We have to do what we have to do and try to win against Atalanta,’ he added. ‘We’ll try but Inter have to drop points.’

The Football Association have been awarded an extra place in the first qualifying round of next season’s UEFA Cup after finishing first in UEFA’s Fair Play competition, European football’s governing body announced on Friday.
   Manchester City are in pole position to claim the English spot after the FA confirmed the berth will be awarded to the highest-ranked side in the Premier League fair play table that has not qualified for Europe by other means.
   City currently stand fifth in the fair play table, behind Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool - who are all already guaranteed a place in continental competition.
   Seven other national associations - Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Spain and France - will go into a draw at the City of Manchester Stadium on May 13 for a further two places in next year’s European second-tier competition.
   The Fair Play competition is based on the Fair Play assessments made by official UEFA delegates at all UEFA competition matches during the 2007-2008 season.
   It is based on criteria such as positive play, respect of the opponent, respect of the referee, behaviour of the crowd and of team officials, as well as cautions and dismissals.

Wayne Rooney is set to hand Manchester United a massive boost by returning to their squad for this weekend’s dramatic finale to the Premier League title battle.
   Rooney has been sidelined since suffering a recurrence of a hip injury in last month’s defeat at Chelsea and there had been fears he would miss both the final day of the domestic campaign and the Champions League final against the Londoners in Moscow on May 21.
   But United boss Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed Rooney is close to a full recovery and is likely to be on the bench at Wigan on Sunday with centreback Nemanja Vidic ready to return to the starting line-up.
   ‘I’m hoping to have Wayne as a sub on Sunday but he will certainly be fit for the Champions League final,’ Ferguson said.
   For the first time in 40 years, the top two sides in England’s top flight go into the final day of the season on the same total of points.
   But United’s huge goal difference advantage over Chelsea means Rooney and co. will be crowned champions provided they overcome a Wigan side with only pride left to play for after securing their own Premiership status.
   United go into the final round of matches with a 17-goal advantage over Chelsea in terms of goal difference.
   ‘I’ve made the point over the last few seasons that to have a good goal difference gives you that extra edge on everyone and in most seasons we’ve had the best goal difference,’ Ferguson said.
   ‘I’ve no fears on the fitness side, I’ve no fears on the confidence side, no fears on the form. We’re going into it in the right form.’
   After displaying remarkable tenacity in clinging on to United in the last two months, Chelsea’s hopes of a third title in four seasons hinge on them beating Bolton at home while hoping that Wigan put up more resistance than West Ham, who surrendered meekly at Old Trafford last weekend.
   Steve Bruce’s side are unbeaten in their last five matches and have conceded only once in their last seven home games. Club owner Dave Whelan vowed that Bruce’s men would not roll over.
   ‘The dressing room has been buzzing all week and the players are determined to unsettle United,’ Whelan said.
   United however have won all five of the league meetings between the two clubs since Wigan arrived in the top flight and England midfielder Owen Hargreaves is confident there will be no shock stumble at the last hurdle.
   ‘We’ve worked so hard all season,’ Hargreaves said. ‘We’ll go out on the pitch on Sunday and give everything we have for 90 minutes.
   ‘At the start of the season if somebody had offered us one game, just 90 minutes, to win the league, we would have jumped at that. We’re in a good position.’
   Chelsea leftback Ashley Cole has warned his team-mates they must not become distracted by events at the JJB Stadium.
   ‘It would be a killer if we drop points and they only drew, it would hurt us more,’ Cole said. ‘Anything can happen in football. Wigan got a draw at our place but first we have to win our game because it won’t be worth anything if we don’t.’
   With Arsenal and Liverpool already assured of third and fourth places in the table, Everton need a point at home to Newcastle to secure fifth spot and direct entry to next season’s UEFA Cup. A defeat would give Aston Villa the opportunity to snatch that prize provided Martin O’Neill’s side beat West Ham at Upton Park.
   At the bottom, two teams from the trio of Fulham, Reading and Birmingham will join Derby in the Championship next season.
   After back-to-back wins, Fulham are the best-placed to survive but have arguably the toughest last-day fixture, away to FA Cup finalists Portsmouth, who are expected to rest fit-again goalkeeper David James rather than risk him ahead of next week’s Wembley appointment.
   In contrast, Birmingham, who are at home to Blackburn, and Reading, who visit Derby, will both believe they can pull off wins that might just be enough to ensure they can do it all again next season.

Less than 24 hours after their humiliating 4-1 defeat to Real Madrid in El Clasico Barcelona have announced that the club’s reserve team coach Pep Guardiola, a former player, will take over from Frank Rijkaard at the end of the season.
   Barcelona president Joan Laporta announced the news on Thursday at a press conference as Rijkaard pays the price for two years without a trophy.
   ‘The administration of the club has decided that at the end of this season Frank Rijkaard will cease to be the coach of Barcelona and the position will be occupied by Josep Guardiola,’ Laporta said.
   ‘He (Rijkaard) has had success but unfortunately in the last two seasons the luck has not been with us.’
   The 37-year-old Guardiola is a former Barca captain making over 250 appearances for the club between 1990 and 2001 winning six league titles and the 1992 Champions League in the process.
   His managerial experience is limited but the club regard him highly and resisted the temptation to go for a more experienced coach like former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.
   ‘Guardiola has the knowledge, the ambition and the self-confidence to be successful,’ Laporta said.
   Rijkaard, a world-class player with Ajax and AC Milan, joins Mourinho in looking for a job this summer after five seasons at Camp Nou.
   Rijkaard arrived at Barca in 2003 - when the club was in a transitional period - after managerial spells with Sparta Rotterdam and the Dutch national team.
   After a difficult start the Dutchman won successive league titles in 2005 and 2006 when they also won the Champions League with a 2-1 win over Arsenal.
   But last season things started to go awry and Barca gifted the title to Real and their misery continued this season as they allowed Real to cruise to the title again.
   Barca must also qualify for the Champions League next season after surrendering second place to Villarreal.
   A second successive season without silverware saw Barca fans waving their handkerchieves at Rijkaard’s team and the Barca board have decided to take action.
   Guardiola inherits a talented team including youngsters such as Lionel Messi and Bojan Krkic but there are sure to be summer exits as Guardiola looks to stamp his mark on the team.

A derby game is always important but for Sevilla this Sunday’s clash with neighbours Real Betis could be worth millions with the prize of Champions League football still within their grasp.
   Sevilla are three points behind fourth-placed Atletico Madrid with two games left but although their season is over Betis will be fired up to ruin’s Sevilla’s hopes of reaching the Champions League.
   ‘Betis can rescue their season by beating us,’ said Sevilla midfielder Fazio. ‘We have to win to try and get into the Champions League and it will be a special derby.’
   Sevilla beat Racing Santander 3-0 to keep up their hopes of a top-four finish but Atletico can clinch fourth with victory against Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday as they have a superior head-to-head record to Sevilla.
   Whoever finishes fourth will have to join Barcelona in qualifying for the Champions League after Frank Rijkaard’s team lost out on second spot to Villarreal.
   A 4-1 mauling by newly-crowned champions Real Madrid in El Clasico on Wednesday prompted Barca to announce Rijkaard’s departure at the end of the season with reserve team coach Pep Guardiola taking his place.
   Guardiola, 37, is a former Barca captain making over 250 appearances for the club between 1990 and 2001 winning six league titles and the 1992 Champions League in the process.
   Rijkaard will hand over the reins soon and his penultimate game is at home to Real Mallorca on Sunday. After sealing second spot the pressure is off Villarreal who have achieved their best ever league finish going into Sunday’s match against Espanyol.
   ‘It has been a spectacular season and I think we deserve second place,’ enthused Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini.
   ‘We want to keep growing as a club and now we have to prepare for next season when we will have three tough competitions to compete in.’
   Mallorca are still in the hunt for the UEFA Cup - trailing Racing by three points - and hot-shot Daniel Guiza is hoping to add to his 25 goals that make him the league’s top-scorer and favourite for the Pichichi crown.
   After completing a league double over Barca and retaining the championship Real can wind down their season away at Real Zaragoza.
   ‘We have had a complete season after winning the league and beating Barca twice but we need to keep pushing on in the final two games,’ said Real striker Gonzalo Higuain. Zaragoza are just a single point from the relegation zone and will hope Real slack off to aid their bid to beat the drop. With two games left it is agonisingly close at the bottom with four teams fighting for survival.
   Osasuna currently occupy the final relegation spot but host a Real Murcia team that are already relegated.

Liverpool have slapped a 15-million-pound (30-million-dollar) price tag on unsettled England striker Peter Crouch while Tottenham have indicated that they are resigned to losing Dimitar Berbatov at the end of this season.
   Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez accepts that Crouch has grown frustrated with playing second fiddle to Fernando Torres at Anfield, but made it clear it would take a significant offer for him to release a player he regards as a valuable squad member.
   ‘Crouch wants to play every week but knows he must fight it out with Fernando Torres,’ Benitez said. ‘We keep seeing Portsmouth linked with the player but we have had no offer as yet. A 15 million pound price tag would not be unreasonable.’
   Benitez, who confirmed that out-of-contract winger Harry Kewell will leave the club at the end of the season, is hoping to bring England midfielder Gareth Barry to Anfield.
   ‘I have spoken to (Villa boss) Martin O’Neill, he knows my ideas,’ the Spaniard said. ‘But we agreed to wait until the end of the season for any more discussions.’
   Tottenham boss Juande Ramos said Berbatov had made his mind up on his future, which will not be at White Hart Lane if a Champions League club comes in with a sufficiently large offer.
   ‘I’ve spoken to him many times and know exactly what he wants,’ Ramos said. ‘I understand perfectly well that big clubs want to sign him.’
   Spurs have been looking at possible replacements for Berbatov, including Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o.
   Ramos said: ‘Obviously we have to cover our backs in case the player decides to leave and we have to have options to replace him.
   ‘I would obviously like him to stay here but we don’t know how future negotiations will go so it is something I cannot guarantee.
   ‘If there are offers coming in for the player we will see if they convince the club and the player as well. What we want is for the player to be happy and enjoy his football. The player has the key to this and it is up to him at the end of the day.
   ‘If that happened I’m sure the club would prefer to have the money because with the money they would be able to sign the players necessary.’
   Ramos added: ‘Of course there are great players in Europe that can do just as well as Berbatov.’

Argentina legend Diego Maradona has spoken on two subjects that probably couldn’t be further apart, namely Ronaldo’s dalliances with women/men of little virtue and the uprising against the Chinese government in Tibet.
   Maradona is currently in Bologna, Italy ahead of his participation in a charity match organised by Roma captain Francesco Totti and singer Eros Ramazzotti, scheduled for the 12th May at the Stadio Olímpico in Rome.
   The former Napoli player has found himself in hot demand by the media since his arrival in the country and took some time on Thursday to sit down and talk to the news agency ‘Ansa’ about a couple of recent issues that are on his mind.
   First up was the controversy surrounding AC Milan
   striker Ronaldo, who got caught up with three transvestites
   during a recent night out in
   Rio, where he is situated
   while he recovers from knee surgery.
   ‘Ronaldo is an incredible player; the things that
   happen in his personal life are his own problem,’ said Maradona, a man not exactly famed for enjoying the quiet side of life himself.
   ‘He will always be great. Nobody can judge his personal life.’
   Moving on to more serious issues, Maradona spoke in
   support of the political
   uprising in Tibet, suggesting that he may forego any links with the Beijing Olympics later this year.
   ‘The Chinese are wrong and I will probably not even cover the Olympics for television, yet alone go there,’ he affirmed.
   ‘For me, Tibet is a very serious subject, especially the lack of diplomatic relations.’
   He has also declared that Italy national team coach Roberto Donadoni simply must take Alessandro Del Piero to Euro 2008.
   Del Piero has not played for his country for more than eight months, and his participation at this summer’s finals were, until recently, believed to be in huge doubt.
   However the Juventus skipper has been in mesmerising form over the past few months or so, and there has been a national campaign in the press to see him chosen.
   The latest high profile figure to declare his support to Del Piero is Argentine legend Diego Maradona.
   ‘I have always admired Del Piero,’ said the greatest footballer of all time.
   ‘If I was coach, he would always be in my team.’
   Del Piero’s chances of travelling to Austria and Switzerland were boosted yesterday when his club team-mate Vincenzo Iaquinta was ruled out for around a month with injury.
   Maradona, who is in Italy currently ahead of his participation next week in a charity match organised by Roma captain Francesco
   Totti and singer Eros Ramazzotti, also believes that the Azzurri must go to Euro 2008 with the intention of winning the tournament.
   ‘Italy must go to the Euros to win,’ concluded the former Napoli hero.

Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is concerned that his Euro 2008 side could be handicapped by the absence of talismanic players like Inter Milan veteran Luis Figo and PSG skipper Pedro Pauleta.
   Scolari, who guided Portugal to the Euro 2004 final and semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup told local television: ‘We have now a squad with less experience and less leadership.
   ‘Without Figo or Pauleta the leadership will come from a number of players: Cristiano Ronaldo, Petit, Nuno Gomes or Ricardo Carvalho.’
   Scolari, who is reportedly being courted to manage Manchester City next season, said he had already decided on his squad for the June 7-29 competition co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland.
   ‘My list is ready, and there could be some surprises, like the inclusion of a younger plater,’ he disclosed.
   The 2002 Brazil World Cup winning coach denied reports that Chelsea’s right back Paulo Ferreira, who only made a fleeting appearance at Euro 2004, would miss the 2008 edition.
   ‘I’ve been to London to tell Paulo Ferreira that he’s going to the Euro,’ Scolari said.

Manchester United and Chelsea fans travelling to Moscow for the Champions League final will be sent to special ‘gulags’ to prevent them from fighting with each other.
   Fans will be ferried from the airport to the special holding pens near the stadium, which will have just one entrance, be guarded by armed Moscow police and will not sell alcohol.
   They could remain there for up to eight hours. Once inside, fans will be told not to leave if they want to see the game.
   The policy will stop many fans from seeing anything of the Russian capital’s famous bars and clubs.
   They will go from the airport to the holding camps, then to the game, before taking a bus back for their return flight.
   Police chief Major Igor Konovalov told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s a normal practice. We use them in our country and the fans call them ‘settling tanks’. It doesn’t matter who comes here — even a bunch of penguins — if our laws are violated we’ll take full measures allowed by our law to clamp down. We will not differentiate.’
   Russian authorities say they are expecting more than 40,000 fans to travel to Moscow in 300 separate flights.

Atletico Madrid’s formidable South American strike pair of Kun Aguero and Diego Forlan fired them one win away from the Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Espanyol on Thursday.
   Atletico can now qualify for the Champions League for the first time in over a decade with victory over Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday as they have a superior head-to-head record to fifth-placed Sevilla who are three points behind.
   ‘If we win in the Calderon against Deportivo we are in the Champions League,’ said Aguero.
   ‘It has been a while and I hope the Champions League wait comes to an end on Sunday.’
   Aguero, another player touted as the new Diego Maradona, opened the scoring on 26 minutes before Forlan, a 21 million euro summer signing from Villarreal, added a second four minutes later.
   Aguero and Forlan have now plundered 44 goals between them - Aguero has 19 and Forlan 15 - to push Atletico to the brink of Champions League football for the first time since the 1996/97 season.
   In fact Atletico are now just three points behind Barcelona and could even steal third place from Frank Rijkaard’s struggling outfit.

With yob insurance, football-shaped cakes and 100 life-size statues of former soccer hero Hans Krankl, joint host Austria is gearing up for Euro 2008 in its own special way.
   In a country better known for mountains and Mozart than midfielders, gradual preparations for the three-week tournament are taking on a distinct Austrian flavour.
   To make football fans feel welcome in Vienna, organisers are erecting plastic Krankl statues to blend into a city already dotted with stone statues of Austrian composers, philosophers and political figures.
   Krankl helped the Alpine nation to beat West Germany in a 1978 World Cup match, which led to the defending world champions being eliminated.
   Retailers around the capital are stacking their shop windows with soccer ball-shaped smoking pipes, black-and-white cups and ashtrays as well as porcelain cows painted in red and white — Austria’s national colours.
   Vienna’s renowned cake makers are busying themselves by carefully icing Euro 2008-themed cakes.
   Not everyone sees the June 7-29 event, being hosted jointly with Switzerland, as a good thing for Austria: the Viennese are being encouraged to buy vandalism insurance for fear of gangs of hooligans rampaging through the capital’s immaculate cobbled streets.
   ‘The 2008 European Championship is a brilliant event for football fans. But winning games doesn’t just bring joy, it can also mean malicious damage to front doors, buildings, fittings and furnishings in local businesses,’ Vienna Insurance Group said in a statement.
   Fifteen euros will buy 2,500 euros’ ($3,863) worth of vandalism cover during the tournament. For anyone dying as football fever sweeps the country, Vienna’s leading funeral company is offering a football-shaped cremation urn for 362 euros.
   Even the national lottery has decided to decorate its lottery balls with a football pattern in an attempt to spark Euro 2008 fever in the country.
   The hosts are hoping the enthusiasm will help tourism to thrive. Austria wants to turn visiting fans into keen art connoisseurs and mountain hikers by promoting the country’s traditional attractions on Euro 2008 posters.
   Switzerland has taken a similar route, with an advertising campaign that boasts blonde Alpine damsels as footballers’ wives and girlfriends.
   ‘Switzerland: even more spectacular than football!’ the national tourism site reads next to a mock football commentary video showing a man milking a cow in the mountains.

The Czech Republic’s injured captain Tomas Rosicky announced Friday that he will not be taking part in next month’s European Championships due to a recurring knee injury.
   ‘I’m not capable of starting the European Championships. My injury requires an operation. I will go (for it) at the start of next week,’ Rosicky told a special news conference.
   ‘I’m maybe enduring the worst period in my career. I lost out on most of the season with Arsenal. I was really looking forward to the championships,’ he added.
   The announcement comes a month after local football chiefs raised the alarm over the Arsenal midfield star’s Euro chances because of a painful knee injury which has stopped him playing since the end of January.
   Speculation has mounted locally that manger Karel Bruckner would be forced to try and tempt Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedved to return to the national team after his international retirement declared soon after the 2006 World Cup.
   ‘The ball is now with Pavel,’ commented Czech and Moravian Football Federation spokesman Lukas Tucek. ‘He must decide if he wants to return.’
   Reading’s Marek Matejovsky, Jaroslav Plasil, of Spanish side Osasuna, or Hamburg’s David Jarolim are other options for the key playmaker role for the tournament from June 7-29.
   Rosicky, 27, was cleared by Arsenal to recover in his homeland in mid-April and he had declared an improvement in his health at the end of the month.