Soca Warriors Online.

By Trevor Huggins.

GIZA, Egypt, (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo will not play their African Nations Cup quarter-final against Egypt if bonuses are not paid in time, coach Claude Leroy said on Monday.
DR Congo nearly boycotted their opening Group B game against Togo over unpaid bonuses for reaching these finals. A fresh row has now broken over cash for reaching the last eight against the host nation on Friday.
"If they are not paid, they will not play the quarter-final," LeRoy told reporters at the team hotel near Cairo.
"That's absolutely sure, absolutely certain. There will be no quarter-final, not even if you applied all the pressure in the world on them" said the Frenchman.
"But it's not blackmail. I've managed to keep them going this far but they won't go any further. But I think all of this will be sorted out today - or tomorrow at the latest."
LeRoy's optimism was based on assurances he received on Sunday night in a personal phone call from DR Congo's President Joseph Kabila.
Kabila had spoken to LeRoy and team captain Lomana LuaLua 15 minutes before kickoff against Togo on Jan. 21 to reassure them that the money would be paid.
"And the day after the phone call from the head of state they were paid the bonuses for competing (in the group phase), as planned," he said.
That bonus was $10,000 per player - and now they are waiting for a further $15,000 each for reaching the last eight, LeRoy said.

BANKNOTE BRIEFCASE
Waiting for a special envoy to arrive with a suitcase stuffed with banknotes has clearly not been the ideal preparation for his team at this tournament.
LeRoy believes the constant haggling is to blame for the two red cards received by his team in their last two Group B matches.
"All these horse-trading discussions go on for hours about bonuses, when are they going to arrive? has the special envoy left or not?...the lads have so often been let down.
"All this creates needless tension and perhaps, somewhere along the line, these sendings-off can be explained as the frustration of people who have lost their cool because of the interminable hours spent talking - which also wear me out.
"It's not football," said the Frenchman, who has a wealth of experience in Africa, helping Cameroon to reach the final in Egypt back in 1986.
Asked to sum up this spell in Egypt with DR Congo compared with previous Nations Cups with other teams, LeRoy said: "It's rock 'n' roll."

ROME, (Reuters) - Under-fire Lazio striker Paolo Di Canio says he would consider returning to England when his contract expires at the end of this season.
"Going back to England isn't such a remote possibility," Di Canio told Italian regional television channel Rete Sole.
"Everyone knows the idea was to finish my career at Lazio. That was the reason I came back (to Italy).
"But unfortunately it doesn't just depend on me. It's also up to the club."
The 37-year-old played eight seasons in England with Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham United and Charlton Athletic and one season in Scotland with Celtic.
His relationship with Lazio's management has become increasingly strained, particularly after he made fascist salutes at the end of Serie A matches against Livorno and Juventus in December.
Di Canio received a 10,000 euro fine and a one-match ban for each salute, but spoke out about his disappointment that the club had not been more public in his defence.

WOLFSBURG, Germany (AFP) - Argentina international midfielder Andres D'Alessandro is joining English Premiership side Portsmouth on loan from German Bundesliga strugglers VfL Wolfsburg, the Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung said.
The 24-year-old D'Alessandro was dropped last week by Wolfsburg's new coach Klaus Augenthaler who accused him of lacking motivation during club training for the resumption of the season after the winter break.
The player had already drawn the ire of supporters earlier in the month when he said he wanted to leave the club.
D'Alessandro joined Wolfsburg in July 2003 for 9.5 million euros, moving from the Buenos Aires side of River Plate. That was a club record transer fee and the contract was to have tied him to the club until 2008.

(Writing by Gareth Chetwynd in Rio de Janeiro)

BUENOS AIRES, (Reuters) - Argentine champions Boca Juniors suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat by Gimnasia-Jujuy on Sunday as the Clausura title race got under way.
Gimnasia's disciplined game was enough to undo a Boca team who struggled to find any rhythm after the close-season break.
Gimnasia, tipped for relegation, carved out three clear scoring opportunities in the first half and midfielder Israel Damonte hit the post.
Boca survived these scares, however, and Martin Palermo broke the deadlock by rising to meet a cross from Juan Krupoviesa on the stroke of halftime.
Gimnasia's Damote equalised on 57 minutes after latching on to a loose ball following a shot by Gustavo Balvorin.
Boca Juniors felt the absence of injured midfielders Sebastian Battaglia and Fernando Gago, who were replaced by Pablo Ledesma and Fabian Vargas.
Hector Silva scored the Gimnasia winner from a corner on 65 minutes.
River Plate had no such problems against lowly opposition, trouncing Tiro Federal 5-0.
Daniel Montenegro bagged two goals, and Jairo Patino, Jonathan Santana, Luciano Figueroa and Ernesto Farias scored one apiece.
River Plate are hitting a rich vein of form under new coach Daniel Passarella following their 6-0 drubbing of Bolivia's Oriente Petroleo.
Banfield produced another upset by beating Racing 3-0.
Midfielder Jesus Datolo scored a goal in each half and Cristian Leiva added a third on 71 minutes.
Dario Scocco managed his own brace of goals to help Newell's Old Boys to a solid 2-0 win over Quilmes.
Independiente, another team with hopes of lifting the Clausura trophy, could only draw 0-0 at home to Lanus.
Independiente rely heavily on the talents of young striker Sergio Aguero, who is also looking to impress Argentine coach Nestor Pekerman enough to make the squad for this year's World Cup.
Played as a lone striker up against the massed Lanus defence, however, Aguero made little impression.

MADRID (AFP) - Barcelona ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at Real Mallorca to extend their lead at the top of the Spanish first division to 12 points and notch up their 14th straight league victory.
"It wasn't the best football we have played this season but there are sometimes nights like this. Mallorca didn't give us many chances but we didn't lose the ball very often and that was good enough," said Barca coach Frank Rijkaard.
The Spanish giants' latest triumph, with two goals from Argentine teenage wonder Lionel Messi after an opener by Ludovic Giuly, moved them to within one win of equalling the league record of 15 consecutive victories.
Real Madrid established that record in the 1960-61 season but Barca will be able to stand alongside their bitter rivals if they beat Atletico Madrid in the Nou Camp next Sunday.
Ironically, Atletico are the only side to have beaten Barca in the league this season.
Giuly put Barca in front after 40 minutes, his shot from just inside the area coming after a long ball from Deco.
Mallorca were then reduced to 10 men when Eduardo Tuzzio got his second yellow card after 72 minutes and then Messi made the most of the advantage with two goals in the last 15 minutes.
The Catalan club added to their league lead after Valencia had to settle for a point with a 2-2 draw with Real Zaragoza.
Valencia left it late but two goals in the last eight minutes kept them in second place and extended their unbeaten streak to 10 games.
"That was a dose of craziness," admitted a relieved Valencia coach Quique Flores.
"We managed to get a point out of a game that we had done almost nothing in before the first goal. We were completely cold during the first half," added Flores.
The 2004 champions were under pressure from the start and Zaragoza got a deserved goal two minutes into injury time at the end of the first half.
Sergio Garcia nipped between two defenders and picked up a Diego Milito pass before becoming the first person to get the ball past Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares in six league games.
Ewerthon then got Zaragoza's second goal, his eighth of the season, the Brazilian finding the net from close range after 63 minutes.
Zaragoza were reduced to 10 men for the final nine minutes after David Generelo received his second yellow card and Valencia managed to get back on level terms.
A stunning right foot strike by second half substitute Patrick Kluivert, who had only been on the pitch five minutes, was followed by Pablo Aimar heading an equaliser two minutes from time.
Real Madrid moved up to third by beating Celta Vigo 2-1 after Osasuna lost for the first time at home this season, going down 2-0 to Real Betis.
Robinho opened the scoring for Real after just 16 minutes but Mattias Lequi headed Celta back level five minutes before half time.
Right back Cicinho then put Real ahead after 57 minutes, finding the net from close range.
Celta threw everything at the visitors in the final half hour.
They looked to have got an equaliser when a David Silva shot was fluffed by Real keeper Iker Casillas and appeared to cross the line but the referee Fernando Teixeira Vitienes didn't give a goal.
The win preserved Real's unbeaten record since the start of 2006.
Betis took the lead at Osasuna through Luis Fernandez's lob from the edge of the area after 34 minutes.
Edu then headed home a Joaquin Sanchez free kick right on the hour to ensure Osasuna's third successive defeat.
At the other end of the table, struggling Alaves notched up their first home victory of the season with a 3-1 win over Real Sociedad.
Alaves midfielder Santiago Carpintero blasted the ball home from the edge of the area on the half hour and John Aloisi added two second half goals before Dalibor Stevanovic got a late consolation goal for Sociedad.
Malaga slumped to the foot of the table after their 3-1 loss at Espanyol.
Spanish international Raul Tamudo got two goals for the Barcelona-based side in the first 20 minutes and Luis Garcia quickly added Espanyol's third before Alexis Ruano got one back for Malaga just before the break.

LONDON (AP) -- Manchester United advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday, getting two goals from Kieran Richardson in a 3-0 win over Wolves.
United, which has won a record 11 FA Cups and also reached the League Cup final on Wednesday, also got a goal from Louis Saha.
Richardson scored the first goal in the fourth minute with a right-foot shot after defender Joleon Lescott failed to clear Saha's cross.
Wolves goalkeeper Stefan Postma punched away a powerful shot from Saha, but the French forward scored in the final minute of the first half. Saha was quickest to react to a long through ball from Nemanja Vidic and raced clear of the Wolves defense to shoot past Postma for his eighth goal of the season.
Colin Cameron almost beat Edwin van der Sar with a swerving 20-yard shot the United goalie couldn't hold. But United moved further ahead in the 52nd when Ruud van Nistelrooy lobbed a cross to the unmarked Richardson, who headed the ball in.

ROME (AP) -- David Trezeguet scored a hat trick, and Juventus beat Ascoli 3-1 in the Italian league.
The France striker scored all three goals in the first half to end a streak of seven weeks without a goal.
Trezeguet scored his first in the eighth minute with a left-footed shot and made it 2-0 in the 12th by shooting into an open goal after a pass from Mauro Camoranesi. His 18th goal of the season came six minutes later off an assist from captain Alessandro Del Piero.
Marco Ferrante scored for Ascoli in the 33rd with a volley from the edge of the area.
Juventus, which leads the league with 59 points, has won 19 of its 22 games this season. AS Roma won its sixth straight by beating Livorno 3-0 and moved into fifth place with 39 points.
Roma captain Francesco Totti, returning from a two-week injury absence, had two goals and Brazilian Rodrigo Taddei added another.

MADRID (AP) -- Lionel Messi scored twice and Ludovic Giuly once to lead F.C. Barcelona to a 3-0 win over Mallorca that gave it a 12-point lead in the Spanish league.
Barcelona has 52 points, while Valencia is second. Osasuna was next on 39, but Real Madrid had a chance to take third place on goal difference with a win against eighth-placed Celta Vigo later Sunday.
Osasuna's 18-match unbeaten run was ended by a 2-1 home loss to Real Betis. Betis' Luis Fernandez scored on a powerful shot in the 34th minute, and Edu Schmidt got the deciding goal with a header in the 60th.
Barcelona's Giuly gave his team a 39th-minute lead with a left-footed shot. Mallorca defender Eduardo Tuzzio was ejected in the 72nd for two yellow cards and substitute Messi took advantage 3 minutes later.
The Argentine forward sliced through the defense and put the ball into the back of the net. And with 8 minutes left, Ronaldinho passed to Messi and the teenager lobbed the ball past goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya for his second goal.
Patrick Kluivert and Pablo Aimar scored late as Valencia rallied from 2-0 down to tie 2-2 against visiting Real Zaragoza.
Goals by Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanoute gave Sevilla a 2-0 win over Villarreal, while Raul Tamudo scored twice to help Espanyol to a 3-1 win over Malaga. Alaves beat Real Sociedad 3-1.

PARIS (AP) -- Kader Keita and Stathis Tavlaridis scored to help Lille beat visiting Metz 3-1 in France's first division.
The win improved fourth-place Lille to 40 points from 24 matches, 14 behind four-time defending champion Lyon, which has played a game fewer. Second-place Bordeaux is nine points off the lead.
Keita opened the scoring in the fourth minute when he connected with a free kick from Geoffrey Dernis. Metz's Stephane Morisot put the ball past his own goalkeeper Gregory Wimbee in the 53rd and Greece defender Tavlaridis made it 3-0 12 minutes later when he headed in a shot from another free kick by Dernis.
Stephane Borbiconi headed in a consolation goal for Metz in the 90th.
Lyon's match at Monaco was called off because of a waterlogged field.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- PSV Eindhoven win its 16th straight match by beating ADO The Hague 2-0 in the Dutch league. Jefferson Farfan and Phillip Cocu scored a goal each.
Farfan scored his 12th goal of the season in the 55th minute by driving a low shot past ADO goalkeeper Dorus de Vries. Cocu then made it 2-0 in the 78th off Ibrahim Afellay's free kick.
PSV leads the league with 51 points, three more than Feyenoord and AZ Alkmaar.
Salomon Kalou, Dirk Kuyt, Romeo Castelen and Patrick Paauwe scored in Feyenoord's 4-0 victory over Heracles Almelo, while AZ beat Roda JC 4-1 on Friday. Shota Arveladze had a hat trick for AZ.
Ajax continued its poor season, losing to visiting FC Utrecht 4-1. Adil Ramzi scored three goals and Robin Nelisse added a penalty for Utrecht.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) -- Defending champion Rangers got a pair of goals from Kris Boyd and one from Trinidad international defender Marvin Andrews in a 3-2 win over Inverness in the Scottish Premier League.
Boyd scored in the sixth and 58th minutes, the second goal coming from the penalty spot. He has scored 24 goals this season.
Celtic, which tied 3-3 with Dundee United on Saturday, leads the league with 58 points, eight more than Hearts. Rangers is third with 43.

MADRID (AFP) - England skipper David Beckham has insisted he wants to see out his playing career with Real Madrid despite constant speculation linking him with a return to England.
"I will always keep my home in London but I have never hidden the fact that I want to spend the rest of my career with Real Madrid," Beckham told www.realmadrid.com on Sunday.
"I want to stay and remain captain of England. My children are at school here and I would like to stay here even after my career is over."
The 30-year-old Beckham, who won six Premiership titles with Manchester United as well as the 1999 Champions League, believes he is still learning the game.
"I have worked with great coaches like Nobby Stiles, Eric Harrison, tough people. Eric made you clean the kit. It was a way to learn as a footballer.
"Then came Sir Alex Ferguson. I have got to the stage I am now because of them. I am still learning the game."
Real Madrid's habit of changing coaches on a regular basis has not helped the Spanish giants' cause, said Beckham who has now played under five coaches in two and half years.
"During 10 years at United I had the same coach, week after week working with the same man, knowing what to do. The change of trainers has been the most difficult part of Real Madrid."
Beckham also said that he felt he had to prove himself all over again when he first arrived in Spain.
"It was hard to leave your home because you leave a zone of comfort. I had a house in Manchester and was happy there, everything was perfect," he explained.
"When I arrived in Madrid, newspapers were asking if I had come to sell t-shirts or to play football. In that way another aspect of my personality prevailed.
"I had to prove that I am good, quite normal person. To be with new players and in a new club it allows you to discover to what extent you are good. I had to adapt to a different style."
"At the Bernabeu, you cannot hide. When I came, people said the fans like players who work hard and I have the energy to do it. "I am happy here. I played in England for many years. Now the life here enchants me."

By Charles Ludlow.

CARSON, California (Reuters) - Taylor Twellman scored a hat-trick to lead the U.S. to a crushing 5-0 victory over an inexperienced Norway side on Sunday.
The Americans recorded their largest ever win over a European team in front of 16,366 fans, taking full advantage of a depleted Norwegian side which included three players making their international debuts.
The game started quickly and the hosts opened the scoring after just five minutes.
Frankie Hejduk broke down the right and a skilful back heel to Clint Dempsey left the midfielder with enough space to provide an inch perfect cross for Twellman to score easily.
Twelve minutes later Todd Dunivant swung in a free kick and the unmarked Twellman headed past Norway Goalkeeper Espen Johnson into the top corner.
The second half began more slowly as the U.S. chose a more patient approach but they extended their lead on 66 minutes following a Landon Donovan corner.
Dunivant struck the ball across the face of the Norway goal and defender Eddie Pope stabbed it in from three meters.
Donovan was involved in a scuffle with Norway's Magne Hoset for which both players were booked before Pat Noonan chipped the ball into the path of Twellman who headed home to complete his hat-trick.
U.S. substitute Chris Klein scored the fifth four minutes from time to complete a highly satisfactory performance for coach Bruce Arena as he continues his preparations for the World Cup in Germany this year.

Reuters - Cameroon made it three wins out of three at the CAF African Cup of Nations after striker Samuel Eto'o steered the Group B winners to a 2-0 victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo.
DR Congo joined Cameroon in the quarter-finals on goal difference despite the defeat, edging out Angola who beat Togo 3-2 in the night's other game in Cairo.
Cameroon, who had already qualified for the last eight, took a 31st-minute lead with a 25-metre piledriver from Chelsea midfielder Geremi and Eto'o added their second two minutes later.
DR Congo had defender Gladys Bokese dismissed in the 72nd minute for kicking out at Cameroon substitute Achille Webo but his team held on to their runners-up place in the group.
Angola fell one goal shy of a place in the quarter-finals after beating Togo 3-2 in their last Group B match in Cairo.
Flavio scored twice and Maurito struck a late winner to record Angola's first ever win at a Nations Cup tournament. Togo twice equalised in a thrilling game through French-based strikers Mohamed Kader and Cherif Toure Maman.

Nations-Fearful Toure plays on for Ivory Coast.
By Trevor Huggins
CAIRO, (Reuters) - Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure says he is haunted by fears for his family's safety while he plays for the strife-torn country at the African Nations Cup.
Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer, has been torn in two since a 2002 civil war launched by rebels hoping to oust President Laurent Gbagbo in which thousands died. Fresh unrest is feared this week following riots earlier this month.
"I'm really scared," Toure told Reuters at the team hotel. "I'm really unhappy.
"I've got my family at Abidjan, and it's difficult, but what can you do? You can just hope...and phone to see if they are all right."
The United Nations said last week it had pulled nearly 400 civilian staffers out of the country as it braced for a fresh outbreak of violence.
Ivory Coast's players know that a good run at this tournament would not only be a good preparation for the World Cup in Germany, where they will be appearing for the first time, but would also give people at home a much-needed lift.
However, the Ivorian team are also under no illusions about just how much they can ease the social and political unrest in a country which still has 11,000 U.N. and French peacekeepers.
"We know that for the country it's really important, because when we win people are really happy and they calm down a bit," said the Arsenal defender.
"But even if we won the World Cup, it wouldn't sort out all the problems.
"People would be happy for two or three weeks and then everything will be back (to how it was before).

JOY BRINGER
"Our job is just to try and make people happy and forget everything else. Because we players know that we'll never be able sort things out in the country."
While success in Egypt in next weekend's quarter-finals might put smiles on people's faces and bring some calm to the streets of Abidjan, Toure added: "If we don't go through, the country will not burn."
On the pitch, Ivory Coast face an unenviable quarter-final task against one of the tournament's favourites, Group B winners Cameroon.
A decision by Ivory Coast's French coach Henri Michel to rest eight regulars for their final Group A game on Saturday cost them a 3-1 defeat to Egypt and top slot.
It was a decision the Ivorians may yet regret having lost to Cameroon both at home and away in qualifying.
Toure was stoical about his team's prospects, though, saying: "We beat Egypt away and in Abidjan during qualifying and here we lost to them.
"It shows anything can happen in football. We know it will be tough but it's a new game.
"On paper, we are one of the best teams in Africa. Now we have to show it."

CONCACAF.com
The quarterfinal home-and-away series fixtures for the 2006 CONCACAF Champions’ Cup are set with the first-legs scheduled from 22-23 February and the return matches on 8 March.
Portmore United FC (JAM) will meet Club América (MEX) in the opening-leg of the Quarterfinal (QF) Series 1 at Minute Maid Stadium in Houston, Texas USA on 22 February, while the second encounter is scheduled for Estadio Azteca in Ciudad de México.
The QF Series 2 has New England Revolution (USA) as the home team in the first match on 22 February, against LD Alajuelense (CRC) at the National Sports Centre in Hamilton, Bermuda, while the second-leg is set for the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela, Costa Rica.
The QF Series 3 will feature CD Olímpia (HON) meeting CD Toluca (MEX) in the first game at the Estadio Olímpico in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on 22 Feburary, with the second-leg scheduled for Estadio Nemesio Diaz in Toluca, Estado de México.
Los Angeles Galaxy (USA) takes on the defending holders of the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup, Deportivo Saprissa (CRC) in the QF Series 4 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California in the first-leg on 23 February, while the second encounter is set for the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in San José, Costa Rica.
The quarterfinal winners will advance to the Champions’ Cup Semifinal Series scheduled for 21-23 and 28-30 March, respectively.
The Semifinal Series victors will play for the 2006 CONCACAF Champions’ Cup on 11-13 & 18-20 April, respectively, with the winner also qualifying to the FIFA Club World Championship in Japan later this year. The Champions’ Cup Runner-up will be one of the three CONCACAF invitees to the 2006 Copa Nissan Sudamericana.
The 2006 CONCACAF Champions’ Cup will be broadcast on television by the FoxSports International regional programming channels (Fox Soccer Channel – USA; FoxSports en Español – USA; Fox Sports Latin America Northern Cone – Caribbean, Central America & Mexico).
The CONCACAF Champions’ Cup is the longest running international club competition in the region and has crowned the champion club of the Confederation since its inception in 1962.

2006 CONCACAF CHAMPIONS’ CUP
Quarterfinals
QF 1
22.02.2006: Houston, Texas USA; Minute Maid Stadium (20:30)
PORTMORE UNITED (JAM) FC – CLUB AMÉRICA (MEX)

08.03.2006: Ciudad de México, MEXICO; Estadio Azteca (19:00)
CLUB AMÉRICA (MEX) – PORTMORE UNITED FC (JAM)

QF 2
22.02.2006: Hamilton, BERMUDA; National Sports Centre (19:00)
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (USA) – LD ALAJUELENSE (CRC)

08.03.2006: Alajuela, COSTA RICA; Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto (20:00)
LD ALAJUELENSE (CRC) – NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (USA)

QF 3
22.02.2006: San Pedro Sula, HONDURAS; Estadio Olímpico (18:30)
CD OLÍMPIA (HON) – CD TOLUCA (MEX)

08.03.2006: Toluca, Estado de MEXICO; Estadio Nemesio Diez (15:00)
CD TOLUCA (MEX) – CD OLÍMPIA (HON)

QF 4
23.02.2006: Carson, California USA; Home Depot Center (20:00)
LOS ANGELES GALAXY (USA) – DEPORTIVO SAPRISSA (CRC)

08.03.2006: San José, COSTA RICA; Estadio Ricardo Saprissa (20:00)
DEPORTIVO SAPRISSA (CRC) – LOS ANGELES GALAXY (USA)

Semifinal Series
First-leg: 21-23 March
Second-leg: 28-30 March

Final Series
First-leg: 11-13 April
Second-leg: 18-20 April

By Trevor Huggins.

CAIRO, (Reuters) - Egypt swept into the African Nations Cup quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Ivory Coast that also dumped 2004 finalists Morocco out of the tournament on Saturday.
Cairo celebrated to the sound of car horns after two goals from striker Emad Moteab and one by Mohamed Aboutrika propelled the host nation to the top of Group A.
Coach Henri Michel, whose Ivory Coast team had already qualified for the last eight, took a calculated gamble by resting several players, notably top striker Didier Drogba.
The decision may yet come back to haunt the Frenchman as his side are now likely to face tournament favourites and Group B leaders Cameroon in the last eight.
A draw for Cameroon on Sunday with Democratic Republic of Congo would also qualify the Congolese, though Angola have an outside chance of securing the runners-up slot against Togo. Egypt's joy at getting through in style was tempered by an injury to striker Mido.

NOT SERIOUS
The Tottenham Hotspur player, who left with a groin problem in the 24th minute, said the injury was not serious and he hoped to be fit for the next game.
Strike partner Moteab had already put his side in front by the time Mido left the pitch, nodding in from close range, while Arouna Kone levelled for the Ivorians before the break.
Roared on by the 77,000 crowd at Cairo's International Stadium, Aboutrika restored Egypt's lead in the 61st minute before Moteab added the third to put the result beyond doubt.
There was little for Morocco to celebrate at the nearby Military Stadium as they could only draw 0-0 with an already eliminated Libya in their final game.
Egypt's victory meant even a win would not keep Morocco's qualifying hopes alive.
Poor finishing and the football federation's decision to appoint a new coach only two weeks before the tournament started were to blame for their exit, the players said.

CAIRO (AFP) - A double by Imad Motaeb inspired hosts Egypt to a 3-1 victory over Ivory Coast and saw them top African Nations Cup Group A.
Mohammed Terika got the other goal for the four-time winners after Arouna Kone had levelled for the Elephants shortly before half-time in a pulsating match that saw the best performances by the two sides so far.
However the match billed as a duel between Premiership hotshots Mido and Didier Drogba failed to materialize as the former went off injured and the latter was dropped to the bench.
Egyptian assistant coach Shawky Gharib said he was proud of his team.
"I take my hat off to them. They played superbly. This match was worthy of the final and not the first round."
Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel rang the changes with eight new starters from the side that beat Libya 2-1, but Saturday's defeat means they will likely meet Cameroon in the quarter-finals.
Michel, though, explained his reasoning.
"We had three players on yellow cards so I didn't want to risk them," said the 57-year-old Frenchman.
"Maybe in a week's time (the quarter-finals) we will be happy we blooded these players and left out the others for security sake."
While disappointed with the result, the former France coach took heart from some of the match.
"I thought we played really well in the first-half but the change of goalkeeper (Jean-Jaques Tizie went off injured and was replaced by Boubacar Barry early in the second-half) had an effect.
"Now we have to probably face Cameroon but so be it. One has to face strong teams at the knockout stage."
It took the hosts just nine minutes to breach the Ivory Coast defence as Motaeb headed into an empty net, connecting with Abdel Zaher El Saka's header across goal.
The Elephants were really under the cosh and were fortunate that Jean-Jacques Tizie pulled off a good save a couple of minutes later from Terika.
Terika then went close again in the 15th minute rounding off a brilliant move with Mido.
Terika passed to Mido down the left and ran 40 metres into the box but his header just went over the bar.
A minute later he again outjumped the Ivorian defence but again his header went over the bar.
Ivory Coast had to wait till the 20th minute for a shot but it went high and wide from Christian Koffi. He made amends a minute later as an acrobatic volley crept the wrong side of the post.
Mido left the action shortly afterwards clutching his groin and was replaced by Egyptian icon Hossam Hasan, who took the captain's armband off Ahmed Hasan.
"I felt pain in my groin on Friday," said Mido. "It was alright today (Saturday) but I still felt it when I started playing. Hopefully it is not too serious."
This did not seem to stop the Egyptian rhythm as another beautifully worked move down the right saw a one-two between Moammed Berekat and Ahmed Hasan, with the former's shot just being saved by Tizie.
Egyptian 'keeper Essam El Hadary was forced to turn away Emerse Fae's drive and from the resulting corner Mohammed Abdel Wahab headed Gnegneri Toure's header off the line.
The lively Kone then broke free and unleashed a fierce shot in the 35th minute which El Hadary did well to turn around the post for a corner.
The 22-year-old PSV Eindhoven striker, though, got his and the team's deserved reward in the 43rd minute as he turned and shot from outside the area and it whistled into the net after taking a deflection off Ibrahim Said.
However joy turned to despair just after the hour mark as having had to take off the injured Tizie, his replacement Boubacar Barry's first touch was to pick the ball out of the net as Terika shot into the far corner after being set up by Hasan's delicate chip.
Egypt wrapped it up 10 minutes later after Barry did well to tip a Motaeb chip on to the bar but the ball rebounded to 39-year-old Hasan, who somehow managed to miss with his header but fortunately the dynamic 22-year-old Motaeb was there having picked himself off the ground to shoot home.

ROME, (Reuters) - AC Milan's perfect home record in Serie A came to an end when they drew 1-1 with Sampdoria on Saturday.
The result interrupted a series of 10 consecutive Serie A victories at the San Siro stadium this season and left Milan third in the table with 47 points from 22 matches, nine behind leaders Juventus who play Ascoli on Sunday.
Earlier, Palermo coach Luigi Del Neri became the eighth Serie A coach to lose his job this season after his side lost 3-1 at home to Siena.
Milan dominated the early stages against Sampdoria and Andriy Shevchenko put the hosts ahead with a 13th-minute penalty after Sergio Volpi had flattened Filippo Inzaghi.
Gradually the visitors found their rhythm and Milan keeper Dida barely reacted when Andrea Gasbarroni blasted a left-foot shot past him to equalise on 36 minutes.
Only the woodwork prevented Sampdoria scoring again before the break as Volpi fired a free kick against Dida's post and Marcello Castellini headed against the upright from a corner.
Milan regained their composure at the start of the second half and pushed forward aggressively in search of a second goal.

DIVING SAVES
Sampdoria keeper Francesco Antonioli pulled off diving saves to prevent Shevchenko and playmaker Kaka restoring Milan's lead.
With 20 minutes remaining Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti sent on Alberto Gilardino in place of Inzaghi in an attempt to grab the winner.
But it was Sampdoria's turn to get lucky when a Clarence Seedorf shot rebounded off the post six minutes from time.
The decision by Palermo to sack Del Neri came as little surprise. The former Chievo Verona coach's position had looked increasingly shaky in recent weeks.
The defeat against Siena was the Sicilian club's fifth in their last seven Serie A matches.
The man who sealed Del Neri's downfall was striker Erion Bogdani, the Albanian hitting a hat-trick to put Siena 3-0 up midway through the second half before Denis Godeas grabbed a consolation goal for the hosts.
The result lifted Siena to 12th in the 20-team table on 24 points, six above the relegation zone. Palermo are 10th.

LONDON (AP) -- Arsenal was eliminated from the FA Cup on Saturday, and Chelsea needed a late goal from Frank Lampard to a get a 1-1 tie with Everton and earn a fourth-round replay.
Stelios Giannakopoulos scored the only goal for Bolton with a diving header in the 84th minute to help his team beat Arsenal 1-0 and knock the defending champions out of the English competition.
Arsenal won the FA Cup three of the previous four seasons and reached the final game four times in five years. The team's latest loss comes four days after Arsenal lost to Wigan in the League Cup semifinals.
Chelsea, the English Premier League leader, trailed after James McFadden gave Everton the lead with a header before halftime. But Lampard, who has scored several big goals for Chelsea this season, scored with a low shot in the 73rd minute to force another game between the two teams.
Other English Premier League teams also had scares. Middlesbrough was held to a 1-1 tie by Coventry, Birmingham tied with Reading 1-1 and Charlton got a last-minute winner to beat League Two Leyton Orient 2-1.
The biggest upset came from League One Brentford, which beat Sunderland 2-1. Dudley Campbell scored two goals to knock out the last-place Premier League team. Julio Arca scored for Sunderland.
Other big winners included Newcastle, Aston Villa, Manchester City and West Ham. City beat another Premier League team, Wigan, 1-0. West Ham did the same, downing Blackburn 4-2.

BERLIN (AP) -- Nuremberg upset second-place Hamburg 2-1 in the Bundesliga, dropping the title challengers nine points behind leader Bayern Munich.
Stefan Kiessling scored the winning goal for Nuremberg in the 73rd minute, sending a powerful shot off the goalkeeper's hands to give Hamburg its second loss this season.
"Let's not get carried away about this loss, we played well in stretches, we just didn't score when we should have," Hamburg coach Thomas Doll said.
Hamburg took the lead when Andreas Wolf scored an own-goal in the 64th, but Ivan Saenko tied the score for Nuremberg on a deflected shot in the 67th.
Bayern beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1 Friday as the Bundesliga returned to action after its one-month winter break.

ROME (AP) -- Siena beat Palermo 3-1 in the Italian league, getting a hat trick from Erjon Bogdani.
Bogdani scored his first goal in the 30th minute, and then added two more in the second half with powerful headers.
Denis Godeas scored in the 68th for Palermo, which lost at home for the fourth time this season.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) -- Celtic allowed two late goals, and Dundee United rallied to a 3-3 tie in the Scottish Premier League.
John Hartson, Maciej Zurawski and Stilian Petrov gave Celtic a 3-1 lead by the 67th minute, but Lee Miller scored in the 82nd and Fernandez got his second goal of the game with four minutes to go.
Second-place Hearts cut Celtic's lead to eight points after beating Edinburgh neighbor Hibernian 4-1.

PARIS (AP) -- Bordeaux downed Lens 1-0 in the French league, and moved within nine points of French league leader Lyon. Lilian Laslandes scored the only goal from the penalty spot in the 28th minute -- his 120th league goal. Several other matches were postponed because of bad weather.

By Brian Homewood.
PORT SAID, Egypt (Reuters) - The Group of Death at the African Nations Cup was left wide open on Friday after leaders Nigeria beat Zimbabwe 2-0 and Ghana revived their campaign with a 1-0 win over Senegal.
Nigeria found Zimbabwe more difficult than expected, eventually hitting them with two goals in four minutes after an inspired double substitution by coach Augustine Eguavoen.
An early strike from Bundesliga-bound Mathew Amoah gave Ghana the points against Senegal as they bounced back from their opening 1-0 defeat by Nigeria.
The results left Group D finely balanced.
Nigeria lead with six points from two games and need one more from Tuesday's match with Senegal to be sure of qualifying.
Senegal and Ghana, who play Zimbabwe in their final game, have three points each and will both need to win and keep an eye on each other's results.
Even Zimbabwe could still go through if they beat Ghana and Nigeria beat Senegal by a big score.
"We had a game plan and it was two defensive lapses which cost us a result today," said Zimbabwe's Charles Mhlauri, who at 36 is the youngest of the 16 coaches at the tournament.
Eguavoen said: "We know the next match is important but we are not going to lose sleep over it.
"We have a team to beat any other team on our day. We need one more point and we're going to work hard to get it."
Zimbabwe played some neat football in midfield and could even have gone ahead if their final passes had been better during the opening 55 minutes.
However, everything changed when Eguavoen brought on John Obi Mikel and Kanu for the disappointing Wilson Oruma and Julius Aghahowa.
FIRST GOAL
Inside a minute Kanu had a penalty appeal turned down and within two minutes Nigeria had gone ahead, Italian-based Christian Obodo heading home from a corner.
Four minutes later, Obi Mikel, playing only his second international, scored his first goal for Nigeria, drilling home a low shot from the edge of the area.
Italy coach Marcello Lippi, whose side face Ghana in the first round at the World Cup, was in the crowd for their match with Senegal which opened the double bill.
Lippi had to wait around 15 minutes as officials tried to find him a seat, causing chaos in the VIP area.
Senegal, determined to make up for their failure to qualify for the World Cup, had begun the tournament with a 2-0 win over Zimbabwe and were keen to prove themselves against Ghana, who will be making the trip to Germany.
Amoah, who joins Borussia Dortmund after the tournament in Egypt, had other ideas as he scored from a tight angle in the 13th minute.
Both sides had a player sent off -- Ghan midfielder Laryea Kingston and Senegal fullback Habib Beye -- after a mass brawl in the centre of the pitch midway through the second half.
Senegal coach Abdoulaye Barr, who took off striker El Hadji Diouf surprisingly early in the second half, criticised his team's performance.
"The team did not present any danger to Ghana in the first half. They were badly organised and passive," he said. "We just weren't aggressive enough and Ghana won a lot of balls."
The tournament returns to Cairo on Saturday where hosts Egypt still need a point against already-qualified Ivory Coast to reach the last eight from Group A.
Morocco could still go through if they beat lightweights Libya in the other match and Egypt lose.

By Jeremy Butler.
LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) - Striker Robbie Fowler has rejoined Liverpool on a free transfer until the end of the season from Manchester City.
The 30-year-old, who scored 171 goals in 330 games during eight years at Anfield, was nicknamed 'God' during his time at Liverpool and is still a firm favourite with the fans.
"Honest to God, I'm so happy it's frightening. I'm just so chuffed..." Fowler told Liverpool's website on Friday.
Fowler first made his mark at Liverpool in 1993 and soon became one of the best strikers in Europe. He was acclaimed as being among England's most natural goalscorers and won 26 caps for his country, scoring seven goals.
But he had a difficult relationship with former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier. In his autobiography Fowler claims he was forced to leave because of his treatment by the Frenchman.
"Obviously, since I have left, deep down I have always wanted to come back and it has been a long time but I'm glad to say I'm back now," added Fowler.
Current Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez believes Fowler can help his in-form team improve as the European champions bid to retain their crown and chase Chelsea in the Premier League.
"My idea is for Liverpool to take one step forward and I think Robbie can help us make that step," the Spaniard told the Merseyside club's website on Friday.
"We have signed a player with so much passion for this football club and I think he will act as an example to every player here in how much he loves Liverpool.
"It is a boost for the team, a boost for the supporters and a boost for Robbie himself. I'm not sure I've ever seen a player quite so happy to be joining a club before."

SURPRISE MOVE
Fowler left Liverpool to join Leeds United for 11 million pounds ($19.57 million) in November 2001 but was sold in January 2003 as Leeds tried to solve their debt crisis.
He has struggled to find his best form since his departure from Anfield and has had an unhappy time at City where he had to be talked out of retiring from the game.
Fowler made an impressive return to the first team this month with a hat-trick in the FA Cup win over Scunthorpe and another goal in the 3-1 derby win over Manchester United.
But once Liverpool came calling Toxteth-born Fowler, who scored 27 goals in 75 games for City, was delighted to move.
"Liverpool are his dream club and he wanted to leave and rejoin them," City manager Stuart Pearce told the Manchester club's website on Friday.
"If I refused him this opportunity of fulfilling his ambition it would not be good for him or Manchester City Football Club."
After a career recently blighted by injury Fowler has had his biggest wish granted but Benitez insists he has not signed the veteran striker to Anfield for sentimental reasons.
"He hasn't been signed because he loves the club, he's been signed because he's one of the best goalscorers ever to play in the Premiership and he can score goals for us right now.
"He's got a wealth of experience and he gives us more attacking options. He's a different kind of striker to what we have at the club and that is good for the team."
Fowler is ineligible for Sunday's FA Cup tie at Portsmouth but could make an emotional return in front of the Kop against Birmingham City in the Premier League on Wednesday.

AFP - BERLIN (AFP) - The six-week winter break failed to knock Bayern Munich out of their stride as they got back into the groove with a 3-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach to move nine points clear at the Bundesliga summit.
Dutch international Roy Makaay had failed to score in friendly games during the break but showed he had not lost his golden touch producing two predatory strikes to move into doubles figures for the season.
Incredibly 19-time champions Bayern had not won at Gladbach, one of their bogey teams, since 1998 and failed to find the net in seven barren years.
Makaay ended the wait after just 13 minutes taking advantage of a kind deflection to slot calmly past US international goalkeeper Kasey Keller.
"It was a good peformance and we had the game under control for the most part," said Michael Ballack.
"It was good that Roy got back among the goals again. He is a key player for us and showed that tonight."
Gladbach, a surprise package this season in seventh, maybe hoped Bayern's midweek cup outing - where they needed 120 minutes to beat Mainz 05 3-2 - had sapped their energy but nothing could be further from the truth.
Bayern pushed on and doubled their lead in the 55th minute with German international captain Ballack producing a trademark free-kick.
Ballack, who has yet to reveal his plans for when his contract expires at the end of the season, curled a ferocious free-kick over the wall leaving Keller with no chance.
But with Bayern coach Felix Magath already thinking about taking the points home Gladbach scored straight from the restart.
Belgian international forward Wesley Sonck was on hand to side-foot in after the visitors switched off.
However it was to be Makaay's night and in the 69th minute he showed great technique to unleash a sublime first-time volley that left Keller's net bulging.
"I had a good feeling before the game and felt I would score," said Makaay. "My confidence was high after the first goal and I think you could see that from the way I took the third goal."
With big games still to come Magath pulled off Makaay just ten minutes after his wonder strion Friday and the Dutch star got a standing ovation from the travelling fans.
On Saturday second-placed SV Hamburg travel to FC Nuremberg looking to close back to within six points of Bayern.
Brazilian Ailton could make his debut after signing on loan from Besiktas during the transfer window.
Ailton's former club Werder Bremen are in action on Sunday and hope to bounce back against Arminia Bielefeld after a frustrating week.
Regional side FC Sankt Paul dumped Bremen out of the quarter-finals of the cup with a 3-1 win on Wednesday.

BERLIN (Ticker) - Construction workers are in a race against time to get Germany's railway network ready, as a major revamp of the country's transport infrastructure continues ahead of the World Cup.
The Deutsche Bahn AG (DB), Germany's state-owned railway company, is working on three key projects - the building of a new main Berlin station, an improved line from Berlin to Leipzig, and better connections between Nuremberg and Munich - and all three need to completed before the tournament gets underway in June.
The projects, which have been several years in the planning, are scheduled to be completed by May 28, just 12 days before the tournament's opening ceremony.
"Those are major changes to our regular timetables and services," Stefan Garber, member of the board of directors of DB said. "It is a very special challenge to launch everything on May 28. The three projects were planned long before the World Cup and now we are under a lot of pressure."
Berlin's new main station, which will be located close to the Reichtstag and Brandenburger Gate, boasts spectacular architecture across three levels. The overall project costs an estimated $480 million.
"We really face a very tight deadline on this project," DB chairman Hartmut Mehdorn said. "It will be a race against time but I'm confident we will get it done."
Although it is something of a headache right now, Garber believes the World Cup will leave a legacy of much improved infrastructure on a regional level.
"We have renovated or extended all of the main stations in the 12 host cities," Garber said. "Plus, there have been many maintenance or service works on the regional rail systems so that the local transportation will benefit a lot."
Many cities will provide special local rail transportation, with Berlin's S-Bahn running 24 hours a day during the course of the tournament.
The overall investment in infrastructure is believed to be over $3.4 billion.
After the improvements are made, Garber believes the railway system will be capable of transporting thousands of fans without a problem.
"We practice every Saturday in the Bundesliga so we can build on a great deal of experience," he said.
Garber also offered a little advice for London as the British capital plans ahead for the 2012 Olympics, with transportation a key issue.
"London faces completely different challenges to us," Garber said. "They have a much bigger agglomeration than we have in Germany. Their local traffic is very good but the layout of the city leaves them with many different tasks. I can only give a very simple suggestion - start planning early and try to include all factors."

The USA captured their first CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Tournament Title after a 3:2 victory over Canada in the 2006 Final at the Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes in Veracruz, Mexico on Friday. COMPLETE STANDINGS
With both teams already qualified to the 2006 FIFA Women’s U-20 World Championship in Russia, the stars & stripes took a 1:0 lead in the CONCACAF finale with a goal by Amy Rodriguez in the opening eight minutes, but Aysha Jamani tied it for the maple leafs in the 56th minute of the second half.Jodi-Ann Robinson gave Canada the 2:1 advantage in the 60th minute-mark, but Jessica Rodstedt leveled the match for the USA 12 minutes later.
Lauren Cheney scored the game-winner for the stars & stripes in the 81st minute as it ended the maple leafs’ nine-game winning streak in CONCACAF Women’s Youth Qualification.
Earlier in the day, Mexico gained the final Confederation berth to the 2006 FIFA Women’s U-20 World Championship after defeating Jamaica 4:1 in the CONCACAF Tournament’s Third-Place game at the Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes.The tricolores opened the scoring in 19 minutes into the match with an own goal by the reggae girlz’ Christina Murray, but Venicia Reid tied it in the 33rd minute-mark.
Nancy Gandarilla gave Mexico a 2:1 lead two minutes into the second half and then Verónica Charlyn Corral scored in the 68th and 90th minutes, respectively, for the 4:1 final as it will be the tricolores second appearance in a FIFA Women’s Youth Tournament later this year in Russia.

2006 CONCACAF WOMEN’S UNDER-20 FINAL ROUNDThird Place
27.01.2006: Veracruz, MEXICO; Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes (A: 1537)

MEXICO – JAMAICA 4:1 (1:1) OG 19’; Nancy GANDARILLA 47’; Verónica Charlyn CORRAL 68’, 90’ – Venicia REID 33’

MEX: 1-Anjuli Ladron De Guevara – 2-Marisol Arevalo, 3-Nancy Gutierrez, 4-Leticia Villalpando, 5-Isabel Valdez, 6-Rebecca Juarez (83: 17-Janet Mendez), 7-Maria De Lourdes Gordillo-C, 8-Christine Yvette Nieva, 10-Monica Ocampo (46: 9-Verónica Charlyn Corral), 13-Norma Mendez (46: 15-Rebecca Mendoza), 18-Nancy Gandarilla. Booked: none
TD: Leonardo CUELLAR

JAM: 13-Paula Jackson – 4-Shanique Mitchell, 7-Venicia Reid-C, 8-Julie Fearon, 9-Peta-Gaye Soman (81: 3-Correne Walker), 10-Omolyn Davis (37: 17-Shereen Clarke), 11-Kimmia Parker, 12-Natalya Manyan, 16-Yolanda Hamilton, 19-Shakira Duncan (67: 5-Kenesha Reid), 20-Christine Murray. Booked: Parker 51’, Fearon 68’, K. Reid 90’
TD: Vin BLAINE

R: Dianne FERREIRA-JAMES (GUY)

Final - 27.01.2006: Veracruz, MEXICO; Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes (A: 1537)
CANADA – USA 2:3 (0:1)
Aysha JAMANI 56’; Jodi-Ann ROBINSON 60’ – Amy RODRIGUEZ 8’; Jessia RODSTEDT 72’; Lauren CHENEY 81’

CAN: 20-Erin McNulty – 3-Sophie Schmidt-C, 4-Caroline Vanderpool, 7-Jodi-Ann Robinson, 8-Veronique Maranda, 10-Amanda Cicchini, 11-Desiree Scott, 14-Aysha Jamani, 15-Kara Lang (45: 19-Lisa Collison), 16-Paige Adams (5-Emily Zurrer), 18-Eden Hingwing (81: 13-Rheanne Sleiman). Booked: Schmidt 26’
TD: Ian BRIDGE

USA: 18-Kelsey Davis – 2-Jordan Angelli, 4-Caroline Dew, 5-Nicole Kryzsik-C, 7-Amanda Poach, 8-Lauren Cheney, 11-Brittany Brock (59: 13-Christina DiMartino), 12-Amy Rodriguez (45: 14-Jessica Rodstedt), 15-Lindsey Beam, 16-Kelley O’Hara (89: 19-Meagan Holmes), 17-Sarah Wagenfuhr. Booked: Dew 35’, Beam 89’, Sent offs: Dew 41’
TD: Timonthy SCHULZ

R: Shane DESILVA (TRI)

GOALSCORERS
Verónica Charlyn CORRAL (MEX) - 8
Lauren CHENEY (USA) - 5
Jodi-Ann ROBINSON (CAN) - 5
Amy RODRIGUEZ (USA) - 4
Aysha JAMANI (CAN) - 4
Kimmia PARKER (JAM) - 4
Venicia REID (JAM) - 4
Maylee ATTIN-JOHNSON (TRI) - 3
Kenesha REID (JAM) - 3
Jessica RODSTEDT (USA) - 3
Brittany BROCK (USA) - 2
Patricia Elizabeth CAMPOS (SLV) - 2
Patricia Gabriela CARONA (SLV) - 2
Lisa COLLISON (CAN) - 2
Tania Paola MORALES (MEX) - 2
Christine NIEVA (MEX) - 2
Monica OCAMPO (MEX) - 2 (1 pen)
Sophie SCHMIDT (CAN) - 2
Reanner SLEIMAN (CAN) - 2
Omolyn DAVIS (JAM) - 1
Caroline DEW (USA) - 1
Christina DIMARTINO (USA) - 1
Aveann DOUGLAS (TRI) - 1 (1 pen)
Shakira DUNCAN (JAM) - 1
Nancy GANDARILLA (MEX) - 1
Eden HINGWING (CAN) -1
Selenia IACCHELLI (CAN) - 1
Kaylen KYLE (CAN) - 1
Kara LANG (CAN) - 1
Alexandra LONG (USA) - 1
Veronique MARANDA (CAN) - 1
Rebecca MENDEZ (MEX) - 1
Kelley O’HARA (USA) - 1
Amanda POACH (USA) - 1
Joan RODRIGUEZ (PAN) - 1
Peta-Gaye SOMAN (JAM) - 1
Isabel VALDEZ (MEX) - 1

Own Goals:
Roxane DJARSKI (SUR) -1
Christina MURRAY (JAM)-1

Source:
concacaf.com

SOFIA, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's Litex Lovech have reached an agreement to sign a two-year contract with Brazilian midfielder Tiago da Silva, a club spokesman said.
Da Silva, a 21-year-old free agent, became the third Litex signing during the winter break after Martin Kovachev signed from Spartak Varna and Bosnian international Vladan Gruic joined from Russia's Alania Vladikavkaz.
"I am really happy to join such a strong side. I need some time to adapt to European football but I will do my best," said Da Silva, who will join his compatriot Alessadro Sandrinho.
The former Bulgarian champions meet France's Strasbourg in the UEFA Cup first knockout phase next month and coach Ljupko Petrovic, who won the European Cup with Red Star Belgrade in 1991, has acted to strengthen his squad.
Lovech goalkeeper Iordan Gospodinov will join Greek club Seres on loan until the end of the season after losing the battle for a regular place with Vitomir Vutov and Todor Todorov.
Litex Lovech are fourth in the Bulgarian premier league with 29 points from 14 matches, 11 points adrift of leaders CSKA Sofia.

TURIN, Italy (AP) -- Amantino Mancini scored one goal and set up another as AS Roma upset Juventus 3-2 Thursday night in the first leg of the Italian Cup quarterfinal.
Playing in snow at Stadio delle Alpi, Mancini scored in the 38th minute with a right-footed diagonal shot, his sixth goal in five games. Goals by Damiano Tommasi in the 61st off a Mancini pass and by Simone Perrotta in the 68th boosted the lead to 3-0.
Alessandro Del Piero, a second-half substitute, scored in the 72nd minute and in the fourth minute of injury time. The second leg of the total-goals series will be next week in Rome.
ZARAGOZA, Spain (AP) -- Ewerthon and Diego Milito scored two goals each to lead Zaragoza over Barcelona 4-2 in the first leg of the Spanish King's Cup quarterfinals and end the visitors' 18-game winning streak. Barcelona set a Spanish record with victories in all its games since Oct. 22.
Henrik Larsson scored in the 36th and Ronaldinho converted a penalty kick in the 62nd for Barcelona. Ronaldinho was taunted with monkey noises by some Zaragoza supporters before he took the penalty and later in the game, Cadena SER radio station reported.
The second leg is at Barcelona next Wednesday.

MADRID, (Reuters) - Coming on his 22nd rather than his 21st birthday, Robinho believes his match-winning performance against Real Betis shows he has finally come of age at Real Madrid.
"The truth is that I feel incredibly pleased and I hope I can keep bringing pleasure to the Bernabeu with the way I play and by scoring more goals," the Brazilian told reporters after scoring the winner in a 1-0 King's Cup victory over the holders.
"It's my first season here and I'm very happy. I just hope that we will win at least one trophy, that's what we are all fighting for."
Although he made a promising debut in his first match after a $30 million move from Santos, Robinho struggled to adapt to European football in his first few months at Real and was even jeered by his own fans.
Things threatened to get worse when Vanderlei Luxemburgo, his former mentor at Santos, was sacked as coach at the start of December, but the Brazil international appears to have put that setback behind him.
He has rediscovered the confidence in his trademark stepovers and scored a spectacular 25-metre lob to wrap up Real's 3-1 win against Cadiz last week.
"Real need me now and we are only a step away from the final," he said after Wednesday's quarter-final. "The team is very strong now and we are getting better all the time.
"The hard work we've done in training has done us a lot of good but there is still plenty of room for improvement."

LONDON (AFP) - Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insisted that it was his arrival at the Premiership side that inspired the development of England pair John Terry and Frank Lampard.
Lampard and Terry helped Chelsea end a 50-year wait for the Premiership title last season during Mourinho's first year at Stamford Bridge.
And the Portuguese coach believes he was the inspiration for their success.
Mourinho told BBC Radio Five Live: "When I knew I had the opportunity to come here I saw videos to try to make the right choices.
"Even with videos you can get a feeling of the players' personality, because there is a level of personality in what they do on the pitch.
"So I knew they were hard workers, they are people who try to win but I knew I could push them from that moment to people with ambition. At that time they were big players but not winners.
"These players must also be winners because if not, when they finish their careers, no-one will remember what they did.
"I gave them that bit of ambition and they became two important players in our dressing room."
Mourinho inherited Terry and Lampard but has not been short of money to bring in players due to the vast wealth of billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.
His three major signings of last summer, Michael Essien, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Asier del Horno, alone cost a combined 53 million pounds.
Mourinho insists, however, it was not the promise of almost limitless funds that tempted him to the club but the ambition of Abramovich to win trophies.
"The first contract I signed at Chelsea was not a big, big, big contract in relation to what I had before," he said.
"I was not persuaded by any economical offer, I was persuaded by the club project. They wanted to win things, not tomorrow - the project was not win tomorrow or win the next thing. The project was build a club. It was more than build a team - build a club."

LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Premier League champions Chelsea announced a pre-tax loss of 140 million pounds ($250 million) for the year to end-June 2005 on Friday.
The figure is an increase of 60 percent on the previous 12 months when the club posted an 87.8-million-pound loss.
Despite the loss, Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said the club, which is bankrolled by Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, is on course to break even by the 2009-10 season.
"With continued success on the field and the resulting growth stemming from that of our fan base, memberships and revenues, we are confident of achieving our targets," Kenyon said in a statement on the club's website.
He said the loss was exacerbated by a series of one-off items, including the 25.5-million-pound termination of their contract with sportswear company Umbro, and more than 20 million pounds written off in the value of two players, Adrian Mutu and Juan Sebastien Veron.
Chelsea are closing in on their second successive title, after ending a 50-year wait last season. They are currently 14 points clear with 15 matches to play.
However, that domination has come at a huge cost in player purchases. In the year to end-June 2005 they spent 101 million pounds on new players, although that was significantly less than the 175.1 million lavished the previous year.
"These figures reflect the continuing restructuring of the business which we began in 2003/4," said Kenyon.
"The overall loss increase is, in the main, down to some exceptional items that were necessary in order to help us achieve our strategic business aim of break even by 2009/10.
"In simple terms we have taken some pain now for long-term gain."

MADRID, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Real Madrid will face either arch-rivals Barcelona or 2004 winners Real Zaragoza in the semi-finals of the King's Cup.
Friday's draw at the Spanish Football Federation headquarters pitted Espanyol against the winners of the tie between Valencia and Deportivo Coruna in the other semi-final. The dates of the matches are yet to be decided.
Zaragoza have the upper hand in their quarter-final tie against Barcelona after they ended the Catalans' 18-match winning run with a stunning 4-2 victory in the first leg at La Romareda on Thursday.
They eliminated Barcelona at the same stage in 2004 and then went on to beat Real Madrid in the final.
Real, who have made winning the Cup a priority this season, eased their way into the last four with a 2-0 aggregate victory over holders Real Betis.
Like Real, Espanyol will also have to wait to find out their semi-final opponents as the quarter-final second leg between Valencia and Deportivo Coruna was abandoned just before halftime after a linesman was hit by an object thrown from the crowd at the Mestalla.
Match referee Carlos Megia Davila decided to call a halt to the game after the official was cut on the head moments after Valencia took the lead to level the tie 1-1 on aggregate.
The Spanish Football Federation has decided that the remaining 46 minutes of the game will be played behind closed doors. The quarter-final ties are scheduled to be completed next Wednesday.

MONTREUX, Switzerland, Jan 27 (Reuters) - France were paired with Italy, who they beat to win Euro 2000, at Friday's draw for the qualifying competition for Euro 2008.
France, who defeated Italy with a golden goal from David Trezeguet in the final in Rotterdam, were also paired with World Cup finalists Ukraine in Group B.
World Cup hosts Germany were drawn with the Czech Republic, who they overcame in the Euro 1996 final, in Group D.
European champions Greece, who surprisingly won the title in Portugal in 2004, will lock horns with old rivals Turkey in Group C. The nations were also drawn together in the same qualifying group for this year's World Cup -- both failing to advance.
Switzerland and Austria qualify automatically for Euro 2008 as co-hosts. The top two teams in each of the seven groups will qualify for the finals. There are six groups of seven teams and one group of eight teams. Qualifying starts on Sept. 2 2006 and ends on Nov. 21 2007.

Pools for Euro 2008 draw:
Pool 1: Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, England, Czech Republic, France, Sweden
Pool 2: Germany, Croatia, Italy, Turkey, Poland, Spain, Romania
Pool 3: Serbia-Montenegro, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Slovakia
Pool 4: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ireland, Belgium, Latvia, Israel, Scotland, Slovenia
Pool 5: Hungary, Finland, Estonia, Wales, Lituania, Albania, Iceland
Pool 6: Georgia, Macedonia, Belarus, Armenia, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Moldavia
Pool 7: Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan, Andorra, Malta, Faroe Islands, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, St Marino.

By Kate Holton.

LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - German police will operate in England before this year's soccer World Cup in an advisory capacity to prevent hooligans travelling to the tournament, the Home Office said on Friday.
Home Office minister Paul Goggins also said uniformed English and German police were set to work "side by side" for the first time at a major tournament.
"The Government, police and supporters groups are working hard with the German authorities to make the World Cup a safe and trouble free tournament," Goggins said in a statement.
"The preparations for this year's tournament are extensive and for the first time are likely to include uniformed English and German police officers working side by side."
Goggins said a limited number of German police officers would be placed at UK airports and ports during the summer "to perform a liaison role and be visible to travelling fans" but they would not have powers to arrest anyone.
"This is in order to reassure fans of the German intention to create a welcoming climate for all visiting supporters," he said.
English police will also be deployed in Germany during the June 9 to July 9 tournament in an advisory role but a spokeswoman said it had not yet been decided whether they would have powers of arrest.
A small number of British police officers who specialised in monitoring football violence travelled to the 2004 European championship finals in Portugal to monitor any trouble.
England is likely to send the largest contingent of travelling fans to the World Cup, with 100,000 expected in Germany.
Almost 1,000 English hooligans were detained and expelled after rioting during Euro 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands but there was little trouble at the 2002 World Cup in Asia and Euro 2004 after banning orders were imposed on known trouble-makers.
The system will also be in place for Germany.
"Football banning orders are one of the key tools we are using in the ongoing fight to keep Germany free from any travelling trouble-makers," Goggins said.
German police believe they will be spared any major outbreaks of violence after the draw for the opening stages threw up no high risk matches. England were drawn against Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago and Sweden in the first round.

CAIRO (AFP) - Cameroon's stunning football in the African Nations Cup has inevitably posed the question - how did they miss out on the World Cup finals.
While the Ivory Coast, the team that edged them out of June's global showpiece, have also made it through to the last eight they and fellow World Cup finalists Angola and Togo have been deeply disappointing.
With 3-1 and 2-0 victories over Angola and Togo respectively Cameroon have firmly re-established their superiority over two of the June finalists while they could also add a third scalp if they meet Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals.
Should hosts Egypt beat Ivory Coast and Cameroon get at least a point from their meeting with the impressive Democratic Republic of Congo then the rematch will be on.
However in stark contrast to the freeflowing and inventive football played by Cameroon, their lugubrious and placid coach Artur Jorge remains distinctly cautious.
"We still have a match to go and we must keep together and play well," Jorge said after the dismantling of Togo.
While Jorge, who was the last coach to guide French giants Paris St Germain to the domestic title in 1994, remained firmly rooted to the ground another of his fellow coaches here exposed the impression Cameroon have made.
"I would like us to avoid Cameroon in the quarter-finals," Ivory Coast's coach Henri Michel told AFP.
"We are not afraid of anybody. It is just best to avoid the stronger teams in the last eight. It is a tactical thing, nothing more," added Michel, who coached Cameroon at the 1994 World Cup where financial arguments undermined their campaign and they went out in the first round.
All around the pitch Cameroon possess players capable of taking Ivory Coast apart even the latter's star striker Didier Drogba does not measure up to Cameroon's Barcelona superstar Samuel Eto'o.
Contrary to Jorge's pragmatic approach, 24-year-old Eto'o is in no doubt that the Lions are rediscovering their form.
"Some of our movement was outstanding against Togo," said Eto'o, who took his tally to four in two matches and to 22 in 48 internationals with a stunning strike for their first against Togo.
"Obviously there are difficult matches to come and knockout stages are dangerous territory as we have found out before (they saw their hopes of a threepeat in 2004 evaporate in the quarter-finals).
"However I feel there is a spirit in the side that is both determined and resolutely one minded to restore our reputation as the best in Africa," added Eto'o, who set up the second against Togo which resulted in an outrageous backheel by Albert Meyong.
Champagne football, the only problem is that like the great Dutch sides of the 1974 and 1978 World Cup finals and Brazil in 1982 sometimes it goes flat but the spectators here will be hoping that this time the cork only comes off after the final on February 10.

Soccernet.Com - England full-back Ashley Cole has failed in his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the £75,000 fine imposed for breaking Premier League rules by discussing a transfer to Chelsea last season.
The CAS have ruled that the appeal filed by the Arsenal full-back was 'not admissible' because the CAS have 'no jurisdiction to rule on the dispute between Mr Cole and the Football Association Premier League'.
Cole was fined in August last year along with Chelsea and manager Jose Mourinho after an inquiry found them guilty of breaking regulations by meeting about a possible transfer.
Cole disagreed with the fine - which had been reduced to £75,000 - and vowed to challenge the decision in front of the CAS. His case was submitted to a panel of Jans Nater, Stuart McUnnes and Jan Paulsson but the Premier League objected to CAS jurisdiction.
A statement released by the CAS said: 'The CAS Panel noted that the FAPL regulations do not contain any reference to a right of appeal to the CAS.
'On the contrary, the same regulations state that the decisions of the Appeal Board shall be final.
'The fact that the FIFA statutes do allow appeals to the CAS against decisions rendered by national federations or leagues is not sufficient to establish the jurisdiction of the CAS if there is no direct reference to CAS arbitration in the regulations of the body whose decision is being appealed against.
'Consequently, as there was no specific agreement between the parties to submit this matter to the CAS, the panel has declined jurisdiction.
'As this decision terminates the arbitration procedure, the sanction imposed by the FAPL Appeal Board on Ashley Cole shall stand.'

Soccernet.Com - Sir Alex Ferguson will step up his battle to bring in a midfield reinforcement to try and stop Manchester United's season from disintegrating under a weight of injury and suspension.
Ferguson was without four key men for last night's Carling Cup semi-final triumph over Blackburn in an area of the field where he was already short on numbers following the departure of skipper Roy Keane.
If that was not bad enough, Ryan Giggs lasted just 12 minutes of the 2-1 win before limping off with a hamstring injury, then the Welshman's replacement Alan Smith picked up a booking that will rule him out of next Wednesday's Barclays Premiership rematch with Rovers at Ewood Park.
Although Cristiano Ronaldo will be available for Sunday's FA Cup trip to Wolves after his own three-match ban and Park Ji-sung was due to return to training this morning after a recent knee injury, Ferguson knows it would be a major risk to let the transfer window close next week without making another signing.
So, although chief executive David Gill insisted United's cheque book was now closed until the summer, Ferguson will prise it open again and hope he can beat the deadline, even if it is only a loan move.
'We know it is going to be difficult but ideally, we would like to bring someone in and we are trying our best,' said Ferguson.
'The problem is we have to be sure. There is no point just bringing someone in for the sake of it. We have to get someone who can add to the squad because it is squad number we are light on in midfield.
'But we are exhausting our knowledge of central midfielders in Europe, particularly one we can get on loan.
'It is impossible really because there is only a week left which is not a lot of time to start negotiating fees and things but we could just run out of time.'
United have already been linked with out-of-favour AC Milan man Johann Vogel but the desperation with which he needs to move will not be known until the extent of Giggs' latest injury is revealed.
The Welshman has been plagued by hamstring problems throughout his career and last night's game had barely started before the injury resurfaced.
'He felt the injury and tried to solider on for a few minutes but it was no use,' said Ferguson.
'We wanted Ryan to be our leader in midfield because we only had two young lads alongside him in Darren Fletcher and Kieran Richardson,' he said. 'But the injury put paid to that, which is unfortunate.'

London, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Arsenal captain Thierry Henry has been offered a fantastic five-year deal, says the Premier League club's chairman Peter Hill-Wood.
"I know two things," he was quoted as saying in Thursday's Daily Star. "One, we want him to stay. Two, we have made him an absolutely fantastic offer.
"I'm not going to say what it is but I know it made me shudder. It's a lot of money," added Hill-Wood.
"It's for five years. (Manager) Arsene Wenger thinks he's 'physically very capable' of playing for another five years."
Henry, 28, said this month he would stay with the north London club after speculation that he was considering a move to Barcelona. His contract runs until the end of next season.
However, Hill-Wood said he had no indication as to whether the former Juventus player would commit his future to Arsenal by accepting the new contract that is ready to be signed.
"If he wants to go to Barcelona, or somewhere, there's absolutely nothing we can do, although someone will have to pay something to get him," said the Arsenal chairman.
"But we've made him very welcome and we've made him a very good offer which is probably as good an offer as anybody in this country -- maybe other than Chelsea -- would make."
Arsenal move to their new 60,000-seat stadium next year and want the France striker, who became the top scorer in the club's history this season, to lead out the team at their new home.
"Thierry says he wants to know if the club is ambitious," said Hill-Wood. "We're spending 350 million pounds ($626.4 million) on a new stadium and have just brought in three new players. That is not unambitious."
Arsenal, who are fifth in the Premier League, have signed 16-year-old forward Theo Walcott, Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor and French midfielder Abou Diaby in the January transfer window.

Henry 'yes' to Barca reports.
By Mark Kendall.
Reports emanating from Spain insist that Thierry Henry has made his mind up to join Barcelona at the end of the season.
The Arsenal captain has been a long-term target for the Primera outfit with Barca president Joan Laporta especially keen to line up the mercurial Frenchman alongside Ronaldinho.
Catalan daily newspaper Sport claims that ambition is set to be realised with Henry ready to move to Camp Nou in the summer.
They insist sources at the club are now "90 percent" certain that Henry will end up in Barcelona next season with the France international having verbally agreed to the switch.
The 28-year-old has only 18 months left on his Gunners contract and it is reported that Barcelona will stump up around €15 million (£10 million) to secure the player with Arsenal's hand being forced by his expiring deal.
However, the claims are sure to cut little ice in North London with Henry having recently, and very publicly, stated his intention to stay and sign a new deal to keep him in the capital.
The former Juventus star has made little secret of his desire for Arsenal to match his own ambition and is sure to be less than content with the inconsistent league form that is threatening to undermine the North Londoners' campaign.
Indeed, failure to cement a top-four spot come the end of the season would make it very difficult for Arsenal to retain him, but if UEFA Champions League qualification is assured it still seems most likely that Henry will stay to repay the 'debt of honour' he admits he owes boss Arsene Wenger and lead Arsenal out at their new Ashburton Grove home next season.

Spain (Ticker) - Barcelona star Ronaldinho has sparked controversy in Spain by selecting six Chelsea players in his European dream team - and none of his teammates on Primera Liga's top team.
Chelsea is set to face Barcelona in the Champions League next month in the beginning of the knockout stage of the competition, but Ronaldinho ignored the talents of his teammates and chose a handful of players from the Premiership champions instead.
Ronaldinho picked Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech, England center-half John Terry and midfielder Frank Lampard, French anchorman Claude Makelele, and strikers Didier Drogba and Eidur Gudjohnsen to appear in his fantasy selection. Barcelona is running away with the Spanish league but the Brazilian decided there was no room for his teammates - preferring to heap the plaudits on their forthcoming opponents.
"Cech has proved at Chelsea that he is the best young goalkeeper in Europe," Ronaldinho said. "In defense, John Terry is my first choice because he is Chelsea's leader and has developed into a very sound defender. I chose Makelele simply because he is quite simply the best holding midfield player in the world and I chose Lampard because of his incredible (soccer) vision."
Ronaldinho even elected to have Gudjohnsen and Drogba as partners for Milan's Andrei Shevchenko attack.
"Shevchenko is very special," Ronaldinho added. "His individual class, quality as well as speed set him apart and make him the world's most dangerous attacker."

His European elite squad was:
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Petr Cech (Chelsea), Dida (AC Milan); Cafu (AC Milan), Paolo Maldini (AC Milan), John Terry (Chelsea); Kaka (AC Milan), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Claude Makelele (Chelsea); Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Eidur Gudjohnsen (Chelsea), Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan).

By John Simpson.
San Francisco, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Luis Perez struck late on to give Mexico a 2-1 win over Norway in an international friendly on Wednesday.
The match served as a 2006 World Cup finals warm-up for Mexico, who will face Portugal, Iran and Angola in Group D in Germany this summer. Norway were full of running early on and took a deserved lead after 10 minutes through Ole Martin Arst.
Mexico responded with a brilliantly taken goal from Fransisco Fonseca in the 37th minute, neatly controlling and turning the ball past Espen Johnsen in the Norway goal.
The second half was a lively affair, with both sides having chances to score before Perez fired home in the 87th minute to give Mexico the win. Mexico outshot Norway, 12-3, in the first half, when Cuauhtemoc Blanco came close to scoring several times, including on long-range shots in the 17th minute and 28th minutes. Johnsen saved both.
Blanco was close again in the 35th minute, heading Pavel Pardo's corner kick on goal before Norway defender Trond Bertelsen headed the ball off the goalline.
The game was more even in the second half. Aarst had a good chance in the 75th minute, but Corona pushed Aarst's powerful header over his crossbar.

Reuters - Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o followed up his hat-trick against Angola by scoring the first goal as Cameroon beat Togo 2-0 on Wednesday to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals in Egypt.
The Barcelona striker broke the deadlock with a superb strike in the 68th minute before setting up the second for substitute Albert Meyong Ze with five minutes left in the Group B match.
FIFA World Cup finalists Togo, with key striker Emmanuel Adebayor back in the side following his public spat with coach Stephen Keshi, went out of the tournament after losing both their opening games without scoring.
Cameroon, who surprisingly missed out on a place in the finals in Germany later this year, have a maximum six points from two games.
Democratic Republic of Congo are second with four points followed by Angola with one.
Eto'o, again in inspirational form, was Cameroon's main threat throughout the match.
In the 19th minute, he slipped between two defenders and laid the ball off but nobody was on hand to finish.
Seven minutes later, he collected the ball in the Togo half, carried it forward and unleashed a 25-metre shot which flew narrowly over the crossbar.
Togo replied with a long-range effort from Yao Aziawonou which was comfortably held by goalkeeper Hamidou Souleymanou.
In first-half injury-time, Eto'o fired against the post from a narrow angle after Kossi Agassa blocked Rudolph Douala's run.
Cameroon were again denied by the woodwork early in the second half when Geremi Fotso Njitap's free kick was deflected on to the crossbar.
Adebayor, who had threatened to go home after a public slanging match with Keshi earlier this week, was often left to fight a lonely battle up front for Togo but he almost scored in the 53rd minute.
The lanky forward latched on to a defence-splitting pass by Moustapha Salifou and took the ball past Souleymanou who managed to flick it away with his legs.
Eto'o came close to opening the scoring with an individual effort only to see his goalbound shot turned around the post with a world-class save from Agassa.
However, Eto'o was not to be denied and rifled home a loose ball with a first-time shot from 25 metres after a series of rebounds in the Togo penalty area for his fourth goal of the competition.
With five minutes to go, he cut inside from the right and found Portugal-based Meyong Ze, who cleverly flicked the ball home.

Canada and USA qualified to the FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Championship later this year in Russia after defeating Jamaica and the host Mexico, respectively, in the semifinals of the 2006 CONCACAF Final Round Tournament at the Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes in Veracruz on Wednesday. COMPLETE STANDINGS
The defending CONCACAF champion, Canada took a 1:0 lead just before halftime over Jamaica, who’s in their first CONCACAF Women’s Youth Semifinal, with a goal by Selenia Iacchelli.In the second half, Kimmia Parker leveled the match for the reggae girlz in the 65th minute, but six minutes later, Lisa Collison notched the game-winner for the maple leafs for the 2:1 final score.The victory extends Canada’s perfect record in CONCACAF Women’s Youth Qualification games to 9-0-0, also secures them berth to their third consecutive FIFA World Championship (Canada 2002, Thailand 2004, Russia 2004).
In the other CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Final Round Tournament Semifinal in Veracruz on Wednesday, the USA topped Mexico 3:0.
Brittany Brock opened the scoring for the stars & stripes in the 21st minute-mark. Then, Amy Rodriguez increased the lead over the tricolores in the 59th minute of the second half. Brock closed out the scoring in the 71st minute for the victory and the USA’s third consecutive qualification to the FIFA Women’s Youth World Championship (Canada 2002, Thailand 2004, Russia 2004).
CONCACAF’s last spot into the FIFA event will be determined in the third-place play-off game between Jamaica and Mexico at the Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes on Friday (27 January), before Canada and USA meet for the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 crown later in the day.

2006 CONCACAF WOMEN’S UNDER-20 FINAL ROUND
Semifinals: Veracruz, MEXICO; Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes

25.01.2006: CANADA – JAMAICA 2:1 (1:0) (A: 2000)
Selenia IACCHELLI 45’; Lisa COLLISON 71’ – Kimmia PARKER 65’

CAN: 20-Erin McNulty – 3-Sophie Schmidt-C, 4-Caroline Vanderpool, 6-Kaylen Kyle, 8-Veronique Maranda, 9-Selenia Iacchelli (51: 19-Lisa Collison), 10-Amanda Cicchini, 11-Desiree Scott, 14-Aysha Jamani, 15-Kara Lang (72: 13-Rheanne Sleiman), 18-Eden Hingwing. Booked: Kyle 63’
TD: Ian BRIDGE

JAM: 13-Paula Jackson – 5-Kenesha Reid (50: 4-Shanique Mitchell), 7-Venicia Reid-C, 8-Julie Fearon, 9-Peta-Gaye Soman, 10-Omolyn Davis (61: 17-Shereen Clarke), 11-Kimmia Parker, 12-Natalya Manyan, 16-Yolanda Hamilton, 19-Shakira Duncan (85: 14-Rochelle Bryan), 20-Christina Murray. Booked: Clarke 81’
TD: Vin BLAINER: Arlene TROYA (PAN)

USA – MEXICO 3:0 (1:0) (A: 3141)
Brittany BROCK 21’, 71’; Amy RODRIGUEZ 59’

USA: 18-Kelsey Davis – 2-Jordan Angelli, 3-Stephanie Logterman, 5-Nicole Kryzsik-C, 8-Lauren Cheney (75: 14-Jessica Rodstedt), 9-Danesha Adams (46: 16-Kelley O’Hara), 10-Alexandra Long, 11-Brittany Brock, 12-Amy Rodriguez, 13-Christina DiMartino (46: 7-Amanda Poach), 20-Kasey Moore. Booked: Kryzsik 35’, O’Hara 51’
TD: Timothy SCHULZMEX:

MEX: 1-Anjul Ladron De Guevara – 2-Marisol Gutierrez, 4-Leticia Villalpando, 5-Isabel Valdez, 6-Rebecca Juarez (57: 9-Verónica Charlyn Corral), 7-Maria De Lourdes Gordillo-C, 8-Christine Yvette Nieva, 11-Tania Paola Morales (32: 13-Norma Mendez), 15-Rebecca Mendoza, 18-Nancy Gandarilla (19-Monique Cisneros). Booked: Villalpando 71’
TD: Leonardo CUELLAR
R: Walter QUESADA (CRC)

Finals: Veracruz, MEXICO; Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes
27.01.2006: THIRD PLACE: MEXICO – JAMAICA (12:00)
CHAMPIONSHIP: CANADA – USA (15:00)

GOALSCORERS
Verónica Charlyn CORRAL (MEX) - 6
\Lauren CHENEY (USA) - 4
Kimmia PARKER (JAM) - 4
Jodi-Ann ROBINSON (CAN) - 4
Maylee ATTIN-JOHNSON (TRI) - 3
Aysha JAMANI (CAN) - 3
Kenesha REID (JAM) - 3
Venicia REID (JAM) - 3
Amy RODRIGUEZ (USA) - 3
Brittany BROCK (USA) - 2
Patricia Elizabeth CAMPOS (SLV) - 2
Patricia Gabriela CARONA (SLV) - 2
Lisa COLLISON (CAN) - 2
Tania Paola MORALES (MEX) - 2
Christine NIEVA (MEX) - 2
Monica OCAMPO (MEX) - 2 (1 pen)
Jessica RODSTEDT (USA) - 2
Sophie SCHMIDT (CAN) - 2
Reanner SLEIMAN (CAN) - 2
Omolyn DAVIS (JAM) - 1
Caroline DEW (USA) - 1
Christina DIMARTINO (USA) - 1
Aveann DOUGLAS (TRI) - 1 (1 pen)
Shakira DUNCAN (JAM) - 1
Eden HINGWING (CAN) -1
Selenia IACCHELLI (CAN) - 1
Kaylen KYLE (CAN) - 1
Kara LANG (CAN) - 1
Alexandra LONG (USA) - 1
Veronique MARANDA (CAN) - 1
Rebecca MENDEZ (MEX) - 1
Kelley O’HARA (USA) - 1
Amanda POACH (USA) - 1
Joan RODRIGUEZ (PAN) - 1
Peta-Gaye SOMAN (JAM) - 1
Isabel VALDEZ (MEX) - 1
Own Goal: Roxane DJARSKI (SUR) -1

CAIRO (Reuters) - Rigobert Song will set a new mark for the most matches played at the African Nations Cup finals when Cameroon meet Togo in Cairo on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old, who recently won his 100th cap, will be playing his 25th tournament game, breaking the previous record of 24 held by the former Ivory Coast goalkeeper Alain Gouamene.
The Cameroon captain has not missed a game at the tournament for his country since 1996 and is playing in his sixth finals.
The Galatasaray defender made his 100th international appearance in Saturday's 3-1 win over Angola in their opening Group B match.
He became the seventh African to achieve the feat, but the first from outside north Africa.
Gouamene's mark could also be surpassed at this Nations Cup by Tunisian captain Riadh Bouazizi and his Nigerian counterpart Austin Okocha.
Bouazizi marked his 20th game in six different tournaments with a goal against Zambia in Alexandria on Sunday.
Okocha, playing in his last tournament, missed Nigeria's opening match against Ghana in Port Said on Monday but has 20 previous appearances to his name.
Gouamene had another record matched at this tournament in Egypt -- his participation in seven different finals having been equalled by the host team's striker Hossam Hassan.
Hassan, 39, has played in 18 matches since he first competed at the 1986 finals - the last time his country hosted the Nations Cup finals.

LONDON (AP) -- Jason Roberts scored in the 29th minute of overtime Tuesday night, a goal that put Wigan into the English League Cup final despite a 2-1 loss at Arsenal.
Wigan won the first leg 1-0 two weeks ago. The teams tied 2-2 in the home-and-home series, and Wigan advanced on away goals.
Wigan will face either Manchester United or Blackburn, who enter their second leg Wednesday tied 1-1. Wigan will be making its first appearance in a major cup final.
Arsenal went ahead in the 65th on Thierry Henry's header from a cross by Kerrea Gilbert, and Robin van Persie made it 2-0 on a curling free kick in the 18th minute of overtime.
Wigan goalkeeper Mike Pollitt saved Jose Antonio Reyes's penalty kick in the 22nd minute after defender Stephane Henchoz was called for a handball.
ROME (AP) -- Lazio and defending champion Internazionale of Milan scored one minute apart and tied 1-1 in the first leg of the Italian Cup quarterfinals.
Dejan Stankovic put Inter in front in the 26th minute at Stadio Olimpico with a low left-footed shot from inside the area. Christian Manfredini scored the equalizer with a lob past goalkeeper Francesco Toldo.
Inter is unbeaten in 18 games, and Lazio is undefeated in eight.
On Wednesday, AC Milan hosts Palermo and Udinese takes on Sampdoria. AS Roma is at Serie A leader Juventus on Thursday.

MUNICH, Germany (AP) -- Claudio Pizarro scored twice and Bayern Munich defeated Mainz 05 by 3-2 in overtime in the German Cup quarterfinals.
Mohamed Zidan converted a penalty kick in the 14th minute for Mainz, which is 14th in the Bundesliga, but Pizarro tied the score with nine minutes left in regulation. Paolo Guerrero put the visitors back ahead in the 93rd minute when he headed in a cross from Bastian Schweinsteiger, who darted past three defenders.
Petr Ruman tied it 2-2 in the 106th, and Pizarro scored on a long shot that deflected in off a post in the 114th minute.
Wednesday's quarterfinal schedule has Arminia Bielefeld vs. Kickers Offenbach, 1860 Munich vs. Eintracht Frankfurt and St. Pauli vs. Werder Bremen.

By Chris Bevan.

Shearer is not interested in the England job himselfEx-England skipper Alan Shearer would like to see an Englishman as coach - but feels experience is not important.
Shearer ruled himself out but told BBC Sport: "People will say he should be English but we want success. Ideally it would be with an Englishman, though.
"The job is about getting results. Marco van Basten and Jurgen Klinsmann did not have any experience before taking charge of Holland and Germany.
"They are both doing reasonably well so I don't know how important that is."
The former England captain played down any suggestions that he is personally interested in the job, adding: "That is a bit premature."
The 34-year-old Newcastle striker admits he was surprised by Monday's announcement that Sven-Goran Eriksson is to step down after this year's World Cup.
He said: "Nobody really expected it to be honest but I am not surprised by the outcome.
"And no-one knows yet whether it is the right or wrong decision - only time will tell.
"Fingers crossed, if England go on and win the World Cup then it will be right. If we don't, then people will say it was wrong - we have to wait and see."
Shearer was an England player when then national boss Terry Venables announced ahead of Euro 96 that he was standing down as manager after the tournament.
England went on to enjoy a successful campaign on home territory, thrashing Holland 4-1 on the way to the semi-finals before losing to Germany on penalties.
"It did not affect us when Terry announced he was going," Shearer said. "I cannot remember the squad's exact reaction, but everyone got on with him and he had a good relationship with all his players, just as Sven seems to.
"It did not lower our morale then, but I don't know whether it will affect it now.
"I certainly hope it doesn't because there are some top quality players in our squad and I am sure they are all just looking forward to the World Cup as well.
"We didn't win it in the end, but we were positive anyway and nothing was going to get in our way. I cannot speak for the squad this time because I haven't been in it - but hopefully they feel the same."
Englishmen like Sam Allardyce, Alan Curbishley and Steve McClaren have been named as potential successors to Eriksson.
As have foreign coaches such as ex-Bayern Munich boss Ottmar Hitzfeld, Australia and PSV coach Guus Hiddink and Portugal boss Luiz Felipe Scolari.
The list of candidates is long and impressive and Shearer said: "I don't know who I would like to see as the next manager.
"But whoever gets the job, it will be a full-time position. I wouldn't have thought it could be a part-time post - it is a big job."
Meanwhile, The Football Association is set to begin a hunt for a new England boss to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson, who will stand down after this year's World Cup.
Bolton manager Sam Allardyce is the early favourite for the post.
Also linked are Middlesbrough's Steve McClaren, Alan Curbishley of Charlton and former Celtic boss Martin O'Neill.
Ex-Bayern Munich boss Ottmar Hitzfeld and Australia coach Guus Hiddink are among the foreign candidates, along with Portugal boss Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Former Scotland coach Craig Brown believes Motherwell manager and former England defenderTerry Butcher should succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson as England's next boss.
Brown told BBC Sport: "There's one name that hasn't been linked with the job and it should be and that's the former England captain Terry Butcher.
"He's intelligent, honourable and vastly experienced."
Hiddink has one year left on his contract with Dutch side PSV Eindhoven and is combining that role with coaching Australia.
A PSV spokesman said: "There is no comment from Mr Hiddink.
"It is just a rumour and a media thing in England.
"He is a colleague of Mr Eriksson so Mr Hiddink does not have to say anything. He has two big jobs here - to become champions with PSV and going to the World Cup with Australia.
"That is his future at the moment."
Sports minister Richard Caborn believes the FA should not rule out employing another foreigner when Eriksson departs.
Caborn said: "You would like it to be an English or British person but you have to acknowledge that football, and much professional sport, is now global.
"If you look at rugby, cricket and tennis they all have or have had foreign coaches as well so it would be wrong to restrict the search just to people from this country.
"If we want success, the most sensible thing to do is to employ the best person."
But Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor feels an Englishman should be given the job.
He told BBC Radio Five Live: "It should be a chance for an Englishman.
"It is a bad reflection on the game if this country - the strongest in the world for football - can't produce a quality coach and manager.
"I believe that we have people who have not only played the game but have coached and managed at the highest level and I think it would be nice for them to be given the opportunity.
"It's a global game but if we are going to be in a situation where a manager comes and goes, there isn't quite the same feeling for your own country. It is not really what international football is about."
League Managers' Association chairman Howard Wilkinson echoed Taylor's view, adding: "My point of view, as chairman of the LMA, is we would hope that English contenders for the position have got more than a head start."
Former England coach Don Howe believes finding the right man to replace Eriksson will be difficult.
Howe told BBC Radio Five Live the new England manager will have to be "very knowledgable on football and tactically very bright".
He added: "He must have the right psychology - some of these lads are millionaires and you've got to be very clever because they have to work hard.
"It is difficult to get an experienced man. All the experienced men are in jobs."
Earlier this month, Bolton chairman Phil Gartside warned off Newcastle United over speculation they were lining up Allardyce to replace Graeme Souness as manager.
At the time Gartside told the Mail on Sunday: "The only way I would be prepared to consider allowing Sam to leave the club - and he has three years left on his contract - is if the England job came up."
Following the news that Eriksson is to stand down, a club spokesman told BBC Sport: "Sam is still in his position at Bolton so the club is not making any further comment."
Charlton chief executive Peter Varney said on Sunday that the Addicks would not stand in Curbishley's way if the FA come calling after this year's World Cup.
Varney told BBC Radio Five Live: "I think any coach would want the opportunity to run the national side and Alan is no different.
"Of course he would want it and if it came along we would not stand in his way. Alan is a very focused individual, a very good tactician and I think that is the greatest testament you can pay to him."

By FIFAworldcup.com

As a player, Gary Lineker scored 48 times for his country, including ten in FIFA World Cup™ final tournaments, but although it has been 14 years since his final international appearance, he still has one more goal to score with England.
Lineker, who today is the face of BBC Television's football coverage, will be presenting his third FIFA World Cup finals from Germany this summer. In his playing days, he won the adidas Golden Shoe as England reached the quarter-finals in 1986. Four years later he helped take England as far as the semis but for 2006 he has something even more special in mind.
In common with the many millions of people who want to hear it happen, Lineker reveals his one broadcasting ambition is to be able to say six simple words: "England have won the World Cup!" However, press him for a firm yes or no as to whether he thinks that is going to happen in Berlin this July and the best you will get is: "Maybe..."

England's best chance since 1970 - Hurst

Speaking exclusively to FIFAworldcup.com, Lineker explained: "You can't say they're definitely going to win it because that would be madness. There are lots of ifs and buts, but they've got a decent group and they should get through that. Once it gets to the knockout stages, England are one of the teams that can beat anybody on their day.
"I guess we're used to disappointment, but who knows? They might just surprise us and get a bit of luck. There's nothing greater than when England are going well in the World Cup – the nation goes completely bonkers. It usually ends with a massive let-down, but it's the kind of let-down we generally expect."

Recipe for success
Heartache has certainly gone hand in hand with following England at the major tournaments down the years, but this time round Lineker sees true cause for optimism. "You need a really good nucleus of seven or eight world-class players to have a genuine chance of winning the competition and England have got that now - plus Wayne Rooney, who is one of the potential world greats, something we've never really had before," he said.
"Obviously you need lots of things to go well for you by getting a few breaks during the tournament and especially a lack of injuries, but if they get those things, England will have that genuine chance. England have got to play to their strengths, playing a high-tempo, pressing game and the conditions should allow that in Germany. We're not talking about the heat of South America or even southern Europe here, so that should be relatively favourable."
Lineker agrees with the popular view this could be the best side England have had since the last (and only) time they won the FIFA World Cup 40 years ago, but he feels the current squad, featuring the likes of Rooney, Michael Owen, David Beckham, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, still have some way to go.
"Potentially it's the greatest England team since 1966, though I don't think they’ve performed enough to prove that yet. If you're going player for player it probably is," said Lineker. "We had a strong squad in 1990, but man for man, this squad's better on paper. Now they've just put it together as a team.

Reliance on Rooney"
There's a degree of dependency on Rooney and whether that's fair or not doesn't really matter, that's just the way it is. We saw the difference in the side once he got injured in Portugal at EURO 2004. He's the man that makes the whole team tick, linking the midfield and the forwards. Any team would end up relying on a player of that talent and stature."
Lineker has been a stern critic of some of England's displays over the past 12 months, but he has seen much to encourage him in their last two victories over Poland (2-1) and Argentina (3-2). "Beating Argentina in Geneva was important psychologically for the players and the management to see them performing well against a major side, competing in an English-style way," Lineker said.
"In a lot of games under (coach) Sven-Goran Eriksson, England haven't done that. Previously they played with this cagey, slightly defensive 'get a goal in front and hang onto it' attitude you often see in Italian football, which is where Sven learned his trade. He's come to terms with the fact that England play better when they are more committed, take a few chances and play an aggressive, positive game.
"I think the manager has grasped the nettle and certainly in the last two games against Poland and Argentina, England had more of a go and they came out on top. England have got to do that again if they are going to win the World Cup. We can't do it playing Italian football because we're no good at it."
Of the other teams at the finals, Lineker sees the usual suspects of Brazil, Argentina and Italy as being among the front-runners. The Netherlands are his choice as an outside bet but although he concedes hosts Germany have a major advantage in playing at home, he said: "I don't think their squad is strong enough to go all the way."

Reuters - Goals by Didier Drogba - his 19th in 26 internationals - and Gnegneri Toure put the Elephants on the verge of the quarter-finals.
Libya's goal came from Abdesalam Khames, who deservedly levelled the match late in the first-half.
Côte d'Ivoire coach Henri Michel was pleased with the result.
"We played against a very good Libyan side," said the 57-year-old Frenchman.
"We started the match well and perhaps that is why we took our foot off the pedal."
Michel explained that he had made four changes to the starting line-up from the one that beat Morocco 1-0 to give most of the squad a run out.
"We want to go far in this tournament and I needed to give some of the others some match play," said Michel, who is likely to face the sack if Côte d'Ivoire do not win the title even if they are already in the FIFA World Cup finals for the first time.
Libya at least won the man of the match award in the shape of stylish skipper Tariq El-Taib.
"We deserved a draw and certainly did not deserve to lose," said the 27-year-old, who plays for Turkish side Gaziantespor.
"It is our first championship in 24 years and I think we performed well and will do our best in the final match against Morocco."
Drogba's goal came as a result of a dreadful error by Ghzalla, as after an excellent run into the box by Arouna Kone, the PSV Eindoven forward's tame shot was not gathered by Ghzalla.
The ball came back to the 22-year-old Kone and he coolly tapped it to Drogba, who made no mistake and then engaged in a colourful if bizarre team celebration by the cornerflag.
Libya thought they had a penalty in the 17th minute but the Singaporean referee Maidin Shamsul, voted Asia's best referee, correctly ruled that Abdoulaye Meite had pulled back Abdesalam Khames, though the Ivorian was fortunate not to be red carded as he was the last defender.
However it was playmaker El-Taib who started to pull the strings in midfield although Côte d'Ivoire had their moments.
Naje Shushan put in a brilliant tackle to stop an almost certain second goal for Drogba, who then turned provider but his perfect cross to Kone was headed over by the youngster with the goal at his mercy.
However the Libyans equalised in the 41st minute as their other class player Jehad Muntasser, who plays for Serie A tailenders Treviso, put in a superb cross and Khames rose to head it downwards and under the body of Jean-Jacques Tizie.
While the Egyptian fans went beserk in celebrating the goal Michel did the reverse arising from his seat and shaking his hands vigorously in anger.
Drogba's first impact on the second-half was to be booked for a two footed challenge on his fellow goalscorer Khames, but the Chelsea marksman recovered his composure a minute later and his deft lob over the desperate Ghzalla just went wide of the post.
The Libyans, though, were dominating large parts of the game with some of the most stylish football of the match and it was only an interception by Kolo Toure of El-Taib's deft through ball that stopped Marel Suleiman from being left on his own in the box.
In a pulsating encounter that flowed backwards and forwards Côte d'Ivoire then went desperately close to restoring their lead as Drogba flicked on but Kanga Akale's shot went just the wrong side of the post.
The Libyans, though, went even closer as another stunning slide rule pass by El-Taib found the unmarked Nader Karra but his shot shaved the post.
However all their good work was undone by Ghazalla again as an unbelievably poor punch when under no pressure dropped onto Gnegneri Toure's head and despite Younes Shibani getting his head to it it rebounded off the underside of the bar and over the line.

Guardian Unlimited

Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has been ruled out for the rest of the season after doctors confirmed he was suffering a 'medical condition' in his right eye.
Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed last week Scholes was being sent for a second opinion on an injury originally picked up during the Premiership draw with Birmingham on December 28. The former England international left St Andrews suffering from blurred vision and although it was initially suggested the problem would clear up inside a couple of weeks, the 30-year-old has yet to recover.
"Paul Scholes has a medical condition affecting the vision in his right eye," read a United statement. "It is not a football-related injury. This has been confirmed by a number of specialists who have all agreed that he needs to rest for a period of three months. Obviously, it is a disappointment for Paul and Manchester United that he will miss the rest of the season."
The news is a major blow to Ferguson, who strenuously denied Scholes was suffering from partial blindness and a cyst just a fortnight ago. United chief executive David Gill confirmed this weekend United were on the look-out for midfield recruits but any transfer move would wait until the summer. However, the loss of their most senior midfield man may prompt Ferguson into a rethink.
In Scholes's absence and with Alan Smith also sidelined with an ankle injury, Ferguson was forced to field a central midfield partnership of Ryan Giggs and John O'Shea in Sunday's win over Liverpool. Even that move was disrupted when O'Shea left the battle at half-time with a rib injury that required an X-ray. The results of that scan are not yet known but, with Ferguson previously admitting Smith had next to no chance of facing Blackburn in tomorrow's Carling Cup semi-final decider, Giggs may be pressed into emergency action in the United engine room again.

Glen Mohammed (T&T Express).

Trinidad and Tobago head coach Leo Beenhakker held an intense session yesterday evening with a 17-man squad at the Hasely Crawford Stadium as he looks to refine his roster for the 2006 World Cup that kicks off in Germany on June 9.
The players called included those who were not involved with the "Soca Warriors" in recent times, as well as some of the current members of the team.
Under the watchful eyes of Beenhakker, assistant national coach Anton Corneal was very hands-on in the direction of tactical and ball movement scrimmages among the players, including United Petrotrin utility man Anthony Rougier, Errol McFarlane, Gary Glasgow, Nigel Henry, Kerry Baptiste, Glenton Wolfe, Stephen Cruickshank and Jan Michael Williams.
Recent squad members Scott Sealy, Cornell Glen, Avery John, Brent Rahim, Anthony Wolfe, Anton Pierre, and Silvio Spann were also at the session yesterday, as well as Aurtis Whitley and Cyd Gray.
Beenhakker along with assistant coaches Wim Rijsbergen and Corneal also conducted a morning session at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Arima with the same players.
Beenhakker, with input from Rijsbergen and Corneal, will then select from this line-up, players to join a list of US-based players for a training camp in Ft Lauderdale, Florida for five days in the first week of February.
Beenhakker made the decision on the overseas camp last Thursday and it was approved by Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation special adviser Jack Warner, who was in St Lucia on Friday attending the initiation of a FIFA Goal Project after arriving from Cairo, Egypt the previous day.

Arsenal have completed the signing of teenage striker Theo Walcott from Southampton in a deal which could eventually cost £12million.
Walcott cannot sign a professional contract with Gunners until his 17th birthday on March 16, and so will join the Premiership club as a scholar until then after they paid Saints an initial fee of £5million.
Chelsea were also reported to have been chasing the teenager's signature, but the chance of regular first-team football at Highbury, and from next season the new 60,000-seater Emirates Stadium, is thought to have been key to the player's decision to move to north London.
Walcott said: "I am so pleased to be joining Arsenal, a club I have admired for a long time."Coming to Arsenal will give me the opportunity to work with world-class players every day and play football at the highest possible level."It is a strange day because I am also very sad to be moving from Southampton."I am leaving many friends and some great coaches who have been so important to my career so far, but I leave with many great memories from the club."I am now really looking forward to meeting my new team-mates and working hard as an Arsenal player."Wenger has long been an admirer of the striker, who has played in both cup competitions for the Saints this season."Theo Walcott is a very young player, but has already shown in his performances for Southampton that he is a talented player with huge potential," said the Gunners chief."I also like the fact that he is a versatile player who is incredibly dedicated, shows great determination to succeed and is blessed with electric pace.
"We are delighted Theo has signed for the club and will make a fantastic addition to our squad."Wenger feels Walcott has shown enough in his games for the Championship side to suggest he can have a big impact on the top flight.
He told Arsenal TV Online: "He has pace, commitment, is very mobile and versatile - he can play on two flanks or in the centre."I feel he can adapt to the kind of game we want to play."At the moment, maybe he could play on the flank. I believe he is suited to three up front when on the flanks, but in the 4-4-2 then more through the centre. It depends on the system we would play in."First of all, though, I would say maybe the boy needs a little breather because he has played something like 23 games at the age of just 16 in Division One."

Defender Peter Ramage has backed Newcastle's decision to stand by manager Graeme Souness.The 52-year-old Souness held talks with chairman Freddy Shepherd at St James' Park on Monday and left with his name still on the door of the manager's office and ready to continue preparations for Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round clash with Cheltenham.
The Scot's future has been under the spotlight for much of his time on Tyneside to date as results - he has won only 16 of the 55 Premiership matches for which he has been in charge and just eight of the last 31 - have heaped the pressure upon his shoulders.
He has not been helped by a crippling injury list, which robbed him of Michael Owen, Scott Parker, Emre, Steve Carr, Steven Taylor, Shola Ameobi and Craig Moore at the weekend, but having seen him spend £50million in the last 12 months, many supporters have run out of patience with a brand of football which has too often been a pale imitation of what they saw under Sir Bobby Robson.
Hundreds staged an impromptu but lengthy protest at St James' Park after Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Blackburn, the club he left to replace Robson in September 2004, but his players remain firmly behind him."It's hard for us as players to hear that because he's a brilliant man to work for," said 22-year-old Ramage."He manages how he played, with 100% commitment and determination, and it's good to see he's determined to turn it around."We are fully behind him, every single one of those players in the dressing room is behind him, so it's hard to hear for us what the fans are chanting."But they are more than entitled to their opinion. They pay for their season tickets and to come and watch the games and they deserve to be entertained, and at the end of the day, it's down to the players the position we are in, not the manager."He picks the team, but I bet he wishes he could get his boots on and get out and help, he's that kind of guy."He's given me my chance, he's kick-started my career and I have got nothing but admiration for him."Shepherd has made no secret of his displeasure at recent results and performances as the club has plunged out of the Intertoto and Carling Cups and slumped to 14th in the Premiership table.
He issued a thinly-veiled warning last week that injuries would not excuse a failure to qualify for Europe, and while Monday's events may represent a stay of execution, a continuation of their indifferent form would surely prove fatal.Circumstances may have conspired against Souness during his time on Tyneside, but in some ways, they are currently working in his favour with Shepherd reluctant to fund the £5million compensation package he would have to come up with to dispatch the manager and his staff, and no obvious replacement waiting to take over.
Rumours have thrown the names of Academy chief Glenn Roeder, former player Peter Beardsley and current skipper Alan Shearer into the hat among those who could be used in a caretaker capacity, while those of Martin O'Neill and Sam Allardyce have again been mentioned.
But for the time being at least, it appears the Magpies will give Souness another chance to dig himself out of trouble with Manchester City, Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Charlton and Everton standing in the way of a Premiership recovery next month.

Anton Ferdinand and Yossi Benayoun scored brilliant goals as West Ham survived a second-half fightback to beat Fulham 2-1 at Upton Park.Fulham enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges and could have been two up if Brian McBride had kept his shot on target and Luis Boa Morte had not inadvertently blocked a goalbound Heidar Helguson header.But the Cottagers were left reeling on 17 minutes when Ferdinand crashed a sumptuous 20-yard volley into the top corner. Not to be outdone, Benayoun twisted and turned on the edge of the area 11 minutes later and sent an exquisite chip over a stranded Antti Niemi.Benayoun was denied a second by a great Niemi save but it was Fulham who grabbed a lifeline after 52 minutes when Helguson crashed a shot in off the post after Danny Gabbidon's error.
Helguson then had a great penalty claim turned down after being barged by Paul Konchesky and, as the home side suffered an attack of the jitters, Roy Carroll saved superbly from Tomasz Radzinski.Bobby Zamora hit the post 15 minutes from time as the Hammers weathered the storm in what was an emotional final game for defender Tomas Repka.

French winger Robert Pires will use the offer of a two-year contract with Valencia to try and negotiate himself a better deal at Arsenal.The Spanish giants are keen to snap up the 32-year-old midfielder, who will be a free agent in the summer.Quique Sanchez Flores' side also stand a better chance of playing Champions League football next season as they currently lie second in La Liga while the Gunners are four points off fourth place in the Premiership. Sevilla and Inter Milan have also made their interest known.
However, Pires is desperate to stay in north London, with Arsenal about to make the move to their new state-of-the-art Emirates Stadium home.He is frustrated with the club's offer of a one-year deal with the option of an extra season, but hopes the approach from Los Che will make his current employers improve their terms.

PORT SAID, Egypt, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Nigeria left back Taye Taiwo scored with a stunning free kick in the 85th minute to give the Super Eagles a 1-0 win over Ghana in their opening African Nations Cup match on Monday.
Taiwo, who was close with a similar effort in the first half of the Group D match, blasted a left-foot effort into the bottom corner from around 30 metres just as the game appeared to be petering out into a draw.
Both teams hit the post in an entertaining match in which Ghana became the third of the continent's five World Cup finalists to lose their first game, alongside Togo and Angola.
The Black Stars missed an excellent chance in the 70th minute when forward Mathew Amoah headed wide from six metres.
Nigeria were missing captain Jay-Jay Okocha, who had failed to recover from a thigh injury he picked up during a pre-tournament training camp in Portugal.
With both teams happy to try their luck from long range, the first half produced a flurry of chances.
Olympique Marseille's Taiwo set the tone with a blistering 30-metre free kick in the 25th minute which was pushed away by Ghana goalkeeper Sammy Adjei.
Nigeria then had two good chances when Adjei dropped successive corners but they were unable to capitalise on them.
At the other end, Mathew Amoah hit the post with a left-foot shot from 25 metres and shortly afterwards had his effort blocked rounding Vincent Enyeama.
Peter Odemwingie's 20-metre shot forced Adjei to make another awkward save before Julius Aghahowa fired into the side netting after working an opening on the edge of the area.
Adjei again had difficulty blocking a 30-metre effort from Wilson Oruma just before the break.
In the 51st minute Obafemi Martins, who had a generally quiet match, struck the post from a narrow angle after pouncing on a defensive mistake and rounding the Ghana keeper.
Shortly afterwards, Laryea Kingston's shot was palmed away by Enyeama and then Yakubu Abubakari's shot was blocked in the same Ghana attack.
Ghana then missed two excellent chances in the space of one minute.
In the 69th minute, Stephen Appiah's shot deflected into the path of Kingston, whose effort was superbly turned away by Enyeama at point-blank range.
A minute later, Kingston picked out Amoah with an inswinging cross from the right but the unmarked Borussia Dortmund striker headed wide from six metres.
Both teams appeared to have settled for a point when Taiwo struck.

PORT SAID, Egypt, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Senegal striker Henri Camara inspired his side to a 2-0 win over Zimbabwe in their opening African Nations Cup Group D match on Monday.
Camara made the breakthrough with a well-taken goal on the hour and then set up the second for substitute Issa Ba to seal the points with his first touch of the ball in the 81st minute.
Senegal made life tough for themselves by missing two open goals in the first half while Zimbabwe's Benjani Mwaruwari squandered a golden chance to score when Senegal were 1-0 ahead.
The win was a timely boost for the Lions of Teranga, who surprisingly missed out on a place at the 2006 World Cup finals as Togo qualified at their expense. Earlier, Nigeria beat Ghana 1-0 in the same group.
Senegal should have gone ahead after five minutes when Camara chipped the ball over goalkeeper Gift Muzadzi to El Hadji Diouf, who contrived to miss from two metres.
Somehow, they produced a similar miss in the 28th minute.
This time Diomansy Kamara sprang the offside trap and broke down the right to reach the byline. After dallying over his cross, he finally chipped the ball to the far post where the unmarked Rahmane Barry knocked the ball wide.
Minutes later, they wasted another chance when both Camara and Barry delayed over shots in the same attack, allowing the Zimbabwe defenders to block their efforts.
Senegal were also unlucky to be denied a goal in the 32nd minute when Henri Camara burst through the middle of the Zimbabwe defence and shot into the corner, only to see his effort disallowed for handball.
Senegal finally broke the deadlock on the hour when Habib Baye broke down the left and slipped a perfectly time pass to Camara, who beat the offside trap, rounded Muzadzi and slotted the ball into an empty goal.
The goal came one minute after a timely interception by Ferdinand Coly at the other end foiled Shingarai Kawondera as he was about to shoot from a dangerous position in the area.
Zimbabwe kept going and Kawondera produced an excellent cross after breaking down the left but Mwaruwari failed to make contact.
Then it was Zimbabwe's turn to miss a sitter.
Mwaruwari wins ball off a defender in the area and but, with only goalkeeper Tony Sylva to beat from six metres, dallied over his shot and fired over the bar.
They paid the price in the 81st minute when Issa Ba added Senegal's second less then one minute after coming on, scoring from close range after Camara had cut the ball back from the byline.

ROME, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Lazio's Paolo Di Canio has been banned for one game and fined 10,000 euros ($12,240) for the raised-arm salute he made during his side's 2-1 defeat by Livorno in December, the Italian Football League's disciplinary committee announced on Monday.
It is the second time in little more than a month that the 37-year-old striker has been punished in this way, following an identical salute at the end of Lazio's 1-1 draw with Juventus, also in December.
The new ban means he will miss Lazio's Serie A match against Treviso on Sunday.
Di Canio was criticised by politicians, players, fans and Jewish groups after he ran out under the visiting fans' stand to make the salute at the end of the game in Livorno.
Sepp Blatter, president of world soccer's governing body FIFA, commented on the incident, saying players that made fascist salutes should be banned from the game for life.
At the time Di Canio was unrepentant, insisting the gesture was not intended as a political statement and that he would continue to salute in any way he liked.
Since then, however, he has backtracked.
Lazio's fans have been more forgiving of their favourite son. As well as being their most famous player, Di Canio is a lifelong Lazio supporter and travelled with the club's 'ultras' -- their hardcore supporters -- as a teenager.
After he received his first 10,000 euros fine in December one group of supporters even went so far as to open a current account so that they could collect money to pay it.

Soccernet.Com - Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has told Manchester United their win over Liverpool is nothing to get excited about.
Following Rio Ferdinand's late winner at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson's side were able to gain ground on the Premiership champions, who were held 1-1 at home by Charlton earlier in the day.
But given that Chelsea remain 14 points clear with 15 games remaining, Mourinho felt he could still put United in their place with a few choice words.
He said: 'I am happy with the team and I am happy with our situation. The result of the game between Manchester United and Liverpool, if you go to speak with the winners they will be very happy after the game.
'But if you ask the winners in the middle of their happiness if they want to change position with Chelsea they will lose their happiness immediately.
'When they think how far ahead we are they will lose their smiles.'
Chelsea had looked on course to maintain their 100 per cent record in Premiership fixtures at Stamford Bridge this season when Eidur Gudjohnsen put them ahead in the 18th minute.
But Alan Curbishley's side had already enjoyed a previous visit to the ground, coming away with a Carling Cup penalty shoot-out victory in October.
They prospered again when substitute Marcus Bent, making his debut since a switch from Everton last week, headed an equaliser just before the hour mark.
The late sending off of Ricardo Carvalho for two bookable offences meant Chelsea finished with 10 men for the second game running following Arjen Robben's goal-celebration dismissal at Sunderland last week.
But Mourinho insisted: 'We are a clean team. We played one-and-a-half years without one single red card. The team has a lot of discipline and clean players.'
Charlton had gone on to lose six successive games after the earlier cup success before steadying themselves around Christmas, so Curbishley remained cautious.
He said: 'I can't forget the run we had - it was painful - but a result like this goes a long way towards getting us back on track, although only time will tell.
'Once we had played Chelsea in the League Cup the one thing we lost was that Charlton work ethic. We had it leading up to the cup game and after it just disappeared.
'I had to turn it around, people who had been out of the side came in and we instilled some work-rate again.' The result took Charlton up to 11th place, level on 29 points with West Ham and Everton.

AFP - Sven-Goran Eriksson is to leave his post as England coach after the FIFA World Cup™ finals in Germany later this year, the Football Association (FA) announced on Monday.
The Swede's contract does not expire until 2008 but he has recently been at the centre of a series of embarrassing newspaper revelations and following a meeting with FA officials earlier on Monday, the governing body announced Eriksson would be stepping down.
"I am happy that we have reached this agreement and can now continue our preparations for the World Cup," said Eriksson in an FA statement. "I know that I have the full support of the players and the FA and it is important to stress to everyone just how committed I am to achieving success this summer."
The 57-year-old former Lazio boss added: "I care passionately about this job and I want everyone to know that. I have always enjoyed the incredible support of the fans and I know how important they will be to us in Germany.
"This summer is the culmination of everything we have been working towards over the last five years. Let's go and win the World Cup."
FA chief executive Brian Barwick said: "The FA and Sven felt it was important to clarify his future. This is for the benefit of everyone connected with English football, especially the fans.
"There has been so much speculation surrounding this matter in recent weeks and months, it was important to resolve it now. This is the right outcome and I would like to thank Sven and his advisers for their tremendous cooperation.
"As I have said before, our main objective is giving Sven and the England team the best chance of achieving success at the World Cup. Sven is definitely the man to lead us in Germany. Now is the time for everyone to get behind the team as we prepare for a tournament that presents us with a genuine chance of success."
Eriksson had come under growing pressure to quit after alleging there was a culture of corruption within the English Premiership and it was widely thought, despite his contract, he could not last long in the job after the finals which start in June.
He also made unflattering remarks about several current England internationals and the likes of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
At the weekend Barwick admitted the Swede's remarks had "not been good for the game". Eriksson's comments arose out of a conversation he had in Dubai with an undercover reporter from British Sunday tabloid the News of the World (NoW) posing as a rich Arab sheikh.
He was asked if English managers got involved with transfers during taped meetings in Dubai with an undercover NoW reporter - posing as a "fake Sheikh." He also suggested during the meeting that he would be prepared to become manager of Aston Villa as part of a takeover bid.
"If I come there (Aston Villa) I don't want to have anything to do with money, money to transfer," he was quoted as saying. Asked by the undercover reporter whether managers always got involved with transfers, he is quoted as replying: "Yeah and of course they put money in their pocket."
He also reportedly told the paper that England centre-back Rio Ferdinand was "lazy", that England striker Michael Owen was only at Newcastle for the money and that Ferguson should have left United after the club's treble-winning season in 1999.
Eriksson, his agent Athole Still and lawyer Richard Des Voeux met the reporter at an exclusive hotel in Dubai after he had been asked if he was interested in coaching at an academy there some time in the future.

CORDOBA, Mexico (AP) -- Lauren Cheney and Jessica Rodstedt scored two goals apiece to lead the U.S. Under-20 women's soccer team over El Salvador 5-0 Monday to qualify for the semifinals of the CONCACAF pre-world tournament.
Cheney scored in the 28th and 32nd minutes, and Carolina Drew in the 44th to give the U.S. a 3-0 lead at halftime. Rodstedt added scores in the 55th and 81st minutes for the final margin.
Jamaica also clinched a spot in the semifinals, beating Suriname 9-0. Kenesha Reid, Kimmia Parker and Venicia Reid scored two goals apiece. Shakira Duncan and Julie Fearon also scored, and Suriname's Daniella Rolder had an own-goal.
The United States moved into first place in Group B, with Jamaica second. El Salvador and Suriname were both eliminated.
Meanwhile, Canada took first-place honours in Group A of the 2006 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Final Round after a 3:2 victory over the host Mexico at the Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes in Veracruz on Sunday.
Kara Lang opened the scoring for Canada (3-0-0, 9 Points) with just four seconds into the match, making it the fastest goal in the history of CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Qualification.
Sophie Schmidt increased the lead in the 17th minute of the first half, but Monica Ocampo got Mexico (2-1-0, 6 Points) on the board with a goal in the 23rd minute-mark.
Schmidt had her second tally for the maple leafs three minutes into the second half, but Verónica Charlyn Corral scored for the tricolor in the 79th minute.
Both Canada and Mexico had already qualified for the semifinals from Group A and will meet the Winner and Runner-up from Group B on Wednesday in Veracruz.
In an earlier Group A encounter on Sunday, Trinidad & Tobago (1-2-0, 3 Points) defeated Panama (0-3-0, 0 Points) by a 3:1 score.
Maylee Attin-Johnson scored in the sixth, 45th and 69th minutes, respectively, for the soca princesses, while Joan Rodriguez had the only goal for the canaleras with 10 minutes remaining in the loss.
The 2006 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Final Round continues on Monday with the last matches of Group B at the Estadio Rafael Murillo Vidal in Córdoba as Jamaica (1-1-0, 3 Points) takes on Surinam (0-2-0, 0 Points) at 12:00 and then the USA (2-0-0, 6 Points) meets El Salvador (1-1-0, 3 Points) at 14:30.
At the conclusion of the first round on 23 January, the winners and runners-up of each group will earn a place in the event’s semifinals at Veracruz’s Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes on 25 January, with the winners of the semifinal games earning a place as CONCACAF representatives in FIFA’s U-20 Women’s World Championship.
CONCACAF’s third spot in the FIFA event will be determined by a third-place play-off game between the two losing semifinalists at the Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes on 27 January, before the two finalists meet for the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 crown later in the day.

T&T Express Reports.

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) have been allocated less than one-third of the 34,777 tickets requested as a qualifying nation for the 2006 football World Cup in Germany in June.A media release yesterday from the (TTFF) quoted the number tickets as 10,769, noting also that "there have been no pre-sold tickets" and that successful applicants will be informed of the status of their applications by Thursday.
The release also disclosed that FIFA have also advised applicants to follow the instructions given by football's World governing body, and that "failure to do so shall result in the automatic loss of the said approval".Persons purchasing tickets have also been asked to submit the name, passport number, date of birth and nationality of each ticket holder as tickets are being personalised, and 50 per cent of the cost of the ticket must be paid by February 2, with a March 2 deadline for payment of the second half.On February 3, there will be a second allocation of tickets if an approved ticket purchaser fails to meet the initial deadline for downpayment.According to the TTFF release, "As stated by FIFA, tickets will be personalised for security reasons. This measure is intended to support the basic principle of a fair and open sales procedure. It will also serve as an effective deterrent to black market trading. However, the embedded chip will store access information only. Personal information such as names will not be stored.
'"The TTFF have warned that should T&T fail to make it to the second round of the tournament, the right to use conditional tickets for second round matches "will be lost, and a refund will be provided". The TTFF have also established a special ticket bureau at the TT/Germany 2006 Ltd office at 102 St Vincent St, Port of Spain for the processing of all successful applications. The bureau can be contacted at 1-868-627-1029, 1-868-625-8607 or via fax at 1-868-627-3304.

Polish hooligans are aiming to cause mayhem at the World Cup finals in Germany and achieve a notoriety equal to that of the traditional sources of violence.
Germany's Der Spiegel weekly said Polish fans from clubs around the country were banding together with the aim of wreaking havoc at the finals.
"The hooligans want to use the World Cup to show that they are just as dangerous as their English, Dutch or German counterparts. We must quite simply expect the worst," Jacek Purski from the Warsaw-based supporters' initiative Nigdy Wiecey (Never Again) said.
Purski described the profile of typical Polish hooligans as "car thieves, doormen, petty thieves or dealers".
Drawn in the first-round Group A with host nation Germany, Costa Rica and Ecuador, Poland are tipped to finish second and qualify for what could be a second-round tie against England.
Given the poor reputation of England fans, that is a fixture which could set alarm bells ringing for the World Cup organisers.
Der Spiegel quoted a 21-year-old hooligan, which it named as Marek, who follows the Legia Warsaw club.
"Of course football is also about a good fight," he said.
Marek, who is unemployed, said he was grateful to the Nazis "for freeing Poland from the grip of the lazy Jews".

Agence France-Presse

SAN DIEGO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Freddy Adu became the youngest player to compete for the United States in soccer on Sunday when he made his international debut during a 0-0 draw with Canada in a friendly.
The 16-year-old received a rapturous welcome from the crowd of 6,077 at the University of San Diego's Torero Stadium when he replaced injured forward Eddie Johnson in the 81st minute.
'I wasn't nervous,' Adu said. 'I've been waiting for it for a long time, and it finally came. I was very excited.'
Adu spent the past two seasons with Major League Soccer's D.C. United, and played for the United States in the FIFA World Youth Championship in June.
'I thought he did fine,' United States coach Bruce Arena said. 'He wanted the ball at the end of the game, which is good.'
However, Adu also picked up his first yellow card in the 85th minute for diving.
'The Canadian team made it difficult on us all night,' Arena said. 'It was tough to find space on the field. When we weren't able to win the ball and connect with our first pass forward, they were able to get organised and drop nine players behind the ball.'
Canadian coach Frank Yallop was upbeat.
'It was a great performance from our side of things,' he said. 'We've changed our system to a 4-3-3 where we could flood the midfield, and the system allowed us to attack as well as defend.'
In fact, Canada went close just after the hour when U.S. goalkeeper Matt Reis was called on to stop Dwayne De Rosario from point-blank range nine meters out.
'I thought we broke well and created some great chances,' Yallop said. 'As a coach, you can't ask for more.'
The match was the first of 10 the United States will play before heading to this year's World Cup in Germany.
They will next play Norway on Jan. 29 in Carson, Calif.

Reuters: Zambia stunned a packed 19,000-capacity Haras El Hedod stadium after just eight minutes when South Africa-based striker James Chamanga cashed in on a defensive mix-up around the box to outrun goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel before tapping into an empty net.
However, Tunisia fought back to win with three goals from Francileudo dos Santos and one from skipper Riad Bouazizi.
Tunisia coach Roger Lemerre admitted after the game that the early Zambian goal had stunned his team.
"They unsettled us with the opening goal but we did not lose our heads as we continued to play according to our plan and this allowed us to come back and win," he said.
"This was a great physical battle and the final result did not really tell the true picture of this fight."
His Zambian counterpart, Suleman Pandor said the big scoreline was a little difficult to take in.
"We did not deserve to lose by such a big score because we played well especially in the first half. However, in the second half we made some mistakes while Tunisia took their chances very well," Bwalya said.
From the onset the north Africans had looked the more likely to score after their Brazilian-born goal machine Dos Santos was set clear to make hay in the fifth minute from a long ball by Chedli but his effort was saved by the goalkeeper Kolala.
Zambia looked fit and ready as they were quick to win the balls in midfield while Tunisia preferred the long ball route with hardworking Chedli the main provider.
Santos was unlucky not to get his name on the scoresheet earlier when his header off a right cross by Hatem Trabelsi brushed the post and into touch on 21 minutes as the defending champions stepped up the pressure in search of an equalising goal.
Tunisia again came close to drawing level on the half hour mark when Radhi Jaidi rose high above the Zambian defence to meet Kais Ghodhbane's free kick with a firm header which only missed target narrowly.
The Carthage Eagles were finally rewarded for their endeavour on 35 minutes when Dos Santos directed Chedli's perfect left flank cross beyond Kolala in goal.
Moments later Karim Hagui's header off a free kick taken by Jose Clayton went wide as the Tunisians turned more heat on their younger opponents. A slip by left fullback Joseph Musonda then let Trabelsi inside the Zambia box but the Ajax Amsterdam ace misdirected his shot.
Skipper Bouazizi put Tunisia in front for the first time on 52 minutes with a glancing header inside the box off a cross by Jaziri.
Tunisia got a great chance to extend their lead in the 59th minute following mistakes in the tiring Zambian back line but Santos final effort from inside the box was clutched by the goalkeeper.
Zambia also created a few chances of their own in the second half but both Collins Mbesuma and Chamanga either failed to put them away or were denied by the brilliance of the experienced Boumnijel in the Tunisian goal.
That was before Dos Santos finally put the game beyond them with his second goal when he connected home from a clever through pass by substitute Jaouhar Mnari after 82nd minute before he completed his hat-trick in stoppage time.

AFP - Jan 22, Substitute Aiden McGeady was the driving force behind Celtic's 3-1 win away to Motherwell at Fir Park which left the Glasgow giants 10 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League.
Maciej Zurawski put the visitors ahead in the 17th minute before Motherwell levelled shortly before half-time thanks to striker Jim Hamilton's spectacular volley.
But McGeady came off the bench to restore Celtic's lead in the 71st minute, albeit with the aid of a deflected shot, before setting up John Hartson for the Bhoys' third five minutes from time and hitting the crossbar himself.
After the match a furious Celtic manager Gordon Strachan hit out at the press for exaggerating the effect of the hamstring injury suffered by Roy Keane which kept the former Manchester United stalwart out of the game.
"If we had listened to the tabloid physios we would have been looking at four to six weeks (without Keane)," said Strachan.
"But to those that are qualified he could be out for seven to eight days. Tomorrow you might even see him on a bike - not outside but in training."
Celtic and Motherwell, who were involved in an extraordinary 4-4 draw on the first day of the season, once again produced plenty of entertainment.
Recalled Celtic left-back Mo Camara found himself having to clear Richie Foran's goalbound header off the line in the early stages.
However, Celtic came close in the ninth minute when Shunsuke Nakamura's free-kick skimmed off the head of defender Martyn Corrigan and onto the bar.
Celtic though went ahead when Stilian Petrov played in Zurawski and the Pole held off the challenge of William Kinniburgh to shoot into the corner of the net, despite 'keeper Graeme Smith's touch.
Shaun Maloney nearly extended Celtic's lead when his free-kick curled wide.
Motherwell though levelled in dramatic style in the 41st minute.
Brian Kerr's diagonal cross to the edge of the penalty box was met on the volley by Hamilton, the ball arrowing into the top corner.
Celtic responded with a Hartson header from seven yards which Smith got down well to save.
McGeady, who replaced Nakamura in the 62nd minute, enlivened what had been a scrappy second-half when the Irish youngster's 20-yard shot took a huge deflection before beating Smith.
Scott McDonald came close to an immediate equaliser but his six-yard header from Foran's cross went wide.
Celtic though ended seventh-placed Motherwell's hopes of a revival when McGeady got to the byline and cut the ball back to Wales striker Hartson who scored with a low shot in the 85th minute.
And there was still time for McGeady to evade the home defence once again, only for his hard-hit shot to strike the crossbar.

By Simon Baskett.

MADRID, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Barcelona stretched their lead at the top of the Primera Liga to 10 points with a 2-0 victory over basement side Alaves at the Nou Camp on Sunday.
Sweden striker Henrik Larsson broke the stubborn Alaves resistance when he poked in from close range two minutes after the break and Argentine teenager Lionel Messi made it 2-0 with a follow-up strike late in the game.
Barcelona have now won their last 18 matches in all competitions.
Valencia moved into second place behind the Catalans after a 2-0 win at struggling Real Betis, striker David Villa taking his total for the season to 13 with a classy double.
Osasuna slipped to third after their 2-1 defeat at Villarreal, Juan Roman Riquelme scoring the home side's goals with two controversial penalties.
Champions Barca lead the standings on 49 points from 20 games, 10 ahead of Valencia and Osasuna.
Real Madrid are three points further back with 36 after claiming their second league win in a row with a 3-1 comeback victory over Cadiz at the Bernabeu on Saturday.
Missing leading striker Samuel Eto'o, who is on African Nations Cup duty with Cameroon, and suspended midfielder Deco, Barca were slow to find a rhythm against their lowly opponents.
Alaves, who have only won three matches all season, chased hard in midfield and strikers John Aloisi and Rodolfo Bodipo created early problems for Barcelona's back four.
Larsson eventually broke the deadlock two minutes into the second half when he bundled in from close range after a low pass slipped through keeper Franco Costanzo's grasp into his path.

MISSED PENALTY
They were given a chance to extend their lead 20 minutes later when Alaves defender Josu Sarriegi felled midfielder Andres Iniesta as he raced into the area but World Player of the Year Ronaldinho surprisingly sent his spot kick wide.
French midfielder Ludovic Giuly hit the woodwork twice in the second half before substitute Messi made sure of a 13th consecutive league win when he netted from three metres after Costanzo stopped a Ronaldinho shot with his foot.
The game of the night came, though, at Anoeta where Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao fought out a spectacular 3-3 draw in an action-packed Basque derby.
Sociedad's decision to persuade Nihat Kahveci to reject a move to Spartak Moscow and remain at the club until the end of the season appeared to pay dividends when the Turkish striker scored two great goals in the first half.
Athletic staged an impressive fightback after the break, with striker Aritz Aduriz providing the finishing touch to two superb moves to level the scores midway through the second half.
Sociedad's new Danish striker Morten Skoubo appeared to dash Athletic's hopes when he put the home side 3-2 up, but midfielder Andoni Iraola popped up at the far post in the depth's of injury time to level the game.
The result lifted Athletic a point clear of Alaves at the bottom of the standings, while Sociedad are now five points clear of the drop zone.
The most authoritative performance of the weekend came from Bernd Schuster's Getafe who crushed Espanyol 5-0 at the Coliseo, striker Daniel Guiza and left back Mariano Pernia scoring two goals apiece.
Pernia's second strike was a stunning 35-metre free kick that was still gathering speed when it fizzed into the net.

By Mark Gleeson.

ALEXANDRIA, Jan 22 (Reuters) - South Africa coach Ted Dumitru castigated his side after a 2-0 defeat by Guinea in their opening match at the African Nations Cup on Sunday.
Dumitru said they showed little commitment in Alexandria and needed to change their mental approach to have any chance of progressing past the first round stage in Group C. "We made a mistake in beating Egypt last week," he said in reference to a surprise 2-1 win over the host nation in Cairo in a warm-up match a week before the start of the tournament.
"My players heads were out of the game. We were totally exposed. The team were far too confident, they thought Guinea were not a serious team and were made to pay heavily.
"I have to go now and sort out this mental problem. Beating Egypt in a friendly is nothing compared to losing here to Guinea," said the veteran Romanian-born coach.
Dumitru, who was appointed in a caretaker role for the tournament after the resignation of Englishman Stuart Baxter, said South Africa fell short in all departments.
"We had a problem all over the lineup, not only in defence. We had a serious problems with commitment."
But he added: "You have not seen the real South Africa in this tournament yet. What I can promise you is a totally different game "
South Africa play champions Tunisia in Alexandria on Thursday and defeat for the 2010 World Cup hosts will effectively condemn them to an early exit for a second successive Nations Cup tournament.
Tunisia won their opening Group C match with a 4-1 win over Zambia in Alexandria earlier on Sunday.

LONDON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Following is a round-up of weekend action in the main European leagues.

ENGLAND
Chelsea's Stamford Bridge fortress was finally breached when mid-table Charlton Athletic held the leaders to a 1-1 draw in Sunday's London derby. Marcus Bent's debut equaliser for Charlton to cancel out Eidur Gudjohnsen's early effort, meant the champions dropped their first home points of the season.
Manchester United closed the gap to a distant 14 points when Rio Ferdinand's dramatic late winner gave them a 1-0 victory over third-placed Liverpool at Old Trafford.
Chelsea have 62 points from 23 games, United have 48 and Liverpool have 44, although they have played two games less.
Tottenham Hotspur remain fourth (41 points) despite being held 0-0 at home by Aston Villa while their north London rivals Arsenal are fifth after losing 1-0 at Everton.

SPAIN
Barcelona were not at their best against lowly Alaves but still won 2-0 despite Ronaldinho's missed penalty.
The Catalans are 10 points clear and have won their last 18 matches in all competitions. Sweden striker Henrik Larsson and Argentine teenager Lionel Messi were on target at the Nou Camp.
Valencia moved into second place after a 2-0 win at struggling Real Betis, striker David Villa taking his total for the season to 13 with a classy double.
Osasuna slipped to third after a 2-1 defeat at Villarreal, Juan Roman Riquelme scoring the home side's goals with two controversial penalties.
Champions Barca lead the standings with 49 points from 20 games, 10 ahead of Valencia and Osasuna.
Real Madrid are three points further back with 36 after claiming their second league win in a row with a 3-1 comeback victory over Cadiz at the Bernabeu on Saturday.

ITALY
There was no change at the top in Serie A with the leading four teams all winning.
Defender Fabio Cannavaro scored twice for Juventus who came from behind to beat Empoli 2-1 and maintain an eight-point cushion over their title rivals with 56 points from 21 matches.
Inter Milan are second on 48 points after beating Palermo 3-0. AC Milan consolidated third place with 46 points thanks to a 3-0 victory at Siena, Brazilian Kaka scoring twice.
The division's top scorer Luca Toni also got a brace to lead Fiorentina to a 2-0 win over visiting Messina, giving them 43 points in fourth place.

FRANCE
AJ Auxerre came from behind to hold runaway leaders Olympique Lyon to a 1-1 draw at the Stade Gerland on Sunday.
Midfielder Mahamadou Diarra opened the scoring a minute before the break but substitute Peguy Luyindula equalised for the Burgundy side in injury time to deny Lyon a 17th win.
The champions, who are chasing a record fifth successive title, had their lead cut by two points to 12 over Girondins Bordeaux who ground out a 2-1 home win over Racing Strasbourg.
Auxerre stay third with 39 points ahead of Lille on 37 after their goalless draw at Toulouse.

NETHERLANDS
Feyenoord's title ambitions suffered a setback after they were held to a frustrating 0-0 home draw by Roda JC Kerkrade.
After 20 matches PSV Eindhoven, 2-0 winners against visitors RKC Waalwijk on Friday, are top with 48 points, three above AZ Alkmaar, who were held 1-1 at home by Groningen, and Feyenoord.
Ajax Amsterdam moved up to fourth with 34 points after goals in the last two minutes by Hedwiges Maduro and Urby Emanuelson turned the tide at Twente Enschede to book a 3-2 win.

CAIRO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves said his team were outplayed by Cameroon in Saturday's 3-1 defeat at the African Nations Cup.
The Angolans, who head to their first World Cup in June in Germany, were floored by a hat-trick from Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o in a match that raised questions about their ability to hold their own at the highest level.
"The first half was quite even but in the second, the opposition was much stronger than we were," he said. "Cameroon were better than us."
"We made some mistakes in defence," he added. "I prefer to evaluate how each team played as a whole but we have to recognise the fact that he (Eto'o) is a good player."
"We can do better than we did today and we have to believe that it is still possible to qualify (from the group)."

By Trevor Huggins.

CAIRO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Strikers Samuel Eto'o and Didier Drogba stole the limelight at the African Nations Cup on Saturday when World Cup finalists Angola and Togo were brought down to earth with a bump.
There was plenty of action off the pitch too, with Democratic Republic of Congo players threatening to boycott their game with Togo until six hours before kickoff and Arsenal's new signing Emmanuel Adebayor telling reporters he was going home to Lome after a row with Togo's coach.
Eto'o hit a hat-trick as Cameroon romped to a 3-1 win over Angola, Drogba converted a penalty to give Ivory Coast a 1-0 win over Morocco and Togo slumped to a 2-0 defeat by a modest DR Congo.
Togo and Angola, who will play at the World Cup for the first time, were surprise qualifiers for the finals in Germany later this year.
Sceptics had warned that both teams would get found out in Egypt and their opening games at the Nations Cup certainly suggest they are destined to struggle come June.
Cameroon, who failed to qualify for Germany after missing a last-minute penalty in their final qualifier against Egypt, out-muscled and outplayed the Angolans at Cairo's Military Stadium.
Eto'o floored their opponents with his full array of attacking talent, curling home a free kick, heading in a second and bringing up his hat-trick with a shot from the edge of the area in the closing stages.
"Cameroon are here to go as far as possible," the Barcelona striker said after his tour de force in Group B.
Togo were cut down to size by Portsmouth forward Lomana LuaLua, who made one and scored another as he captained DR Congo to victory despite protracted negotiations over money.

MONEY ROW

LuaLua, who was sent off at the 2004 Nations Cup in Tunisia, said a threat by his team not to play had only been called off six hours before the Group B game.
Togo's Mohamed Kader Coubadja missed an open goal and things went rapidly downhill for his team when LuaLua fed the ball through and Tresor Mputu provided the finish just before the break.
Captain LuaLua fired in the second against a sinking Togo side, whose main striker Adebayor had failed to start after a row with team coach Stephen Keshi.
Just signed by Premier League club Arsenal, Adebayor told reporters after the match he was leaving the finals to go back to Lome to be with his mother, who he said was ill.
Ivory Coast, who are expected to do better at the World Cup, had their captain to thank for victory after Drogba converted a first half penalty in their win over Morocco.
The bad news for the Ivorians was that Drogba was substituted after 65 minutes with a knee injury that makes him a doubt for their next game in Group A against Libya.

By Mark Gleeson.

CAIRO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor said he intended leaving the African Nations Cup on Sunday after a row with coach Stephen Keshi.
The new Arsenal signing refused to play in the starting lineup for the World Cup finalists in Saturday's 2-0 defeat by the Democratic Republic of Congo in their opening Group B match.
The furore was one of two dramatic incidents that emerged at the post-match press conference in Cairo.
The Congolese said they had been on strike for most of the day, intent on not playing the match unless they received promised bonus payments.
Captain Lomana LuaLua told reporters they had only agreed to go ahead after a personal phone call from the country's president Joseph Kabila.
An agitated Adebayor said he had been dropped from the Togo side on Saturday morning, accusing Keshi of trying to pressure the Arsenal striker into using him as his agent.
"I told him no, I don't work that way. Then later he said he wanted me to play but I refused."
Adebayor, the top African goalscorer in last year's World Cup qualifiers, had been included in the starting lineup, released to the media one hour before the match.
When he did not appear, a handwritten statement handed out by Confederation of African Football press officials after the start said the change was made because of a "digestive problem".
Adebayor came on in the 59th minute for Adekanmi Olufade, who had initially not been included in the starting lineup
"I am going home, I want to see my mother in Lome who is ill," he said before refusing to answer any more questions.

SUDDEN CHANGE

Earlier, Keshi also denied any stomach problems had been behind the sudden change of starting lineup.
"This morning I decided not to play him. He wasn't happy. I then changed my mind and told him he was going to start but he said he wouldn't play.
"The problem was that he wasn't in training. I took a decision and he didn't like it and he decided to stay on the bench. He didn't want to start."
Togo's Austrian-based defender Eric Akoto said he was among five players who had pleaded with Adebayor to play.
"We all went to talk to him. He's the best player we've got, we desperately needed him to play. He is a player who makes a lot of chances.
"It's very bad for us. He said later that he would only play in the second half.
"I know the reasons why he didn't want to play but that is up to the coach to say. But we missed him. We had one great chance in the first half that he would have scored."
The dramatic unfurling of Togo's pre-match problems followed revelations of Congo's strike threat.
Coach Claude LeRoy went on stage at the post-match press conference and declared: "The players came to me at 5am this morning and said they did not want to play.
"There are people in the government who do not respect our players," he added in a reference to sports ministry officials who traditionally are responsible for team finances.
"They had not received any of their bonus payments but just 10 minutes before the match the head of state called me on my mobile and promised to solve the issue. I passed the phone to the captain (LuaLua) who told the players."
The Portsmouth striker added: "We were on strike till about 2 (o'clock) this afternoon before we decided to play. As captain it was very difficult for me. I had a headache.
"But we decided to play for the people of Congo and for the fans who had travelled all this way."

ROME, Jan 21 (Reuters) - AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has called on UEFA to open an inquiry into allegations that Olympique Marseille players received injections before the 1993 Champions League final.
Former Marseille player Jean-Jacques Eydelie was quoted in the French sports weekly L'Equipe Magazine on Saturday as saying: "Before the final, we were asked to stand in line in order to receive an injection."
According to Eydelie, the only Marseille player to refuse the injections was former German international Rudi Voeller.
Marseille beat Milan 1-0 to become the first French club to lift Europe's top club trophy.
"We are certain that UEFA will open an inquiry. If they don't we will ask them to do so, officially, as AC Milan," Galliani told Milan's website.
"Our lawyer (Leandro) Cantamessa is looking into the matter now."
Eydelie's allegations cast a shadow across an already murky period in Marseille's history.
Less than 24 hours after they beat Milan, news broke that the team's previous league win against Valenciennes, a victory that clinched their fifth consecutive French title, had been fixed.
Marseille were stripped of their title and demoted to the second division. They were also refused the right to defend their Champions League title.
"It's something that hasn't just appeared out of nowhere," Galliani said of the new allegations.
"In 1993, Milan played the final of the Intercontinental (World Club) Cup and the final of the European Supercup in place of Marseille.
"There have always been rumours about this French team. Even so, it makes me sad to read certain things, to reopen old wounds."

LIVERPOOL, England (AFP) - James Beattie continued Everton's recent revival with the 13th-minute goal that ensured a fourth successive victory for David Moyes's side and dealt another blow to Arsenal's hopes of a return to the Champions League next season.
Just seven days ago, Arsene Wenger's side had been basking in the glory of their 7-0 thrashing of Middlesbrough. But they were brought back down to earth with a bump by a spirited and passionate Everton display that left the visitors battered and bemused by the final whistle.
And to cap a miserable afternoon for Wenger and his players, Cesc Fabregas, the young Spanish midfielder, was sent off for lashing out at Everton's Tim Cahill in the final minutes of the game.
Arsenal's problems should not however detract from an Everton performance that recalled their success of last season and virtually extinguished any lingering threat of Moyes' side being dragged into a relegation battle.
It was Arsenal's seventh defeat this season, with six of those reverses coming away from home and Wenger admitted that his side's lack of muscle was a cause for concern.
"I am worried that we have not been getting the right results away from home," the Frenchman said.
"We have looked okay at home but we have not found a convincing response to the kind of games we have been coming up against away from home." Moyes admitted his relief to have finally put his side's dismal start to the season behind him.
"The players we have here at Everton have got ability but they haven't shown that during the first half of the season," the Scot commented.
"But they are showing that ability now and they have confidence and self-belief and no one can put a value on that. There are three or four players who are reaching the form they showed last season.
"After some of the Saturday nights we have had this season, I'm going to enjoy tonight, I can tell you."
Everton set the tone of the game from the outset, imposing their more physical, uptempo approach on the shell-shocked visitors.
With midfielders Phil Neville and Cahill snapping into tackles and strikers Beattie and Leon Osman constantly harrying Arsenal's distinctly shaky looking makeshift defence, the visitors were quickly exposed and forced into a series of desperate clearances.
Arsenal's problems lay at centre back where both Phillippe Senderos and the vastly experienced Sol Campbell failed to come to terms with Beattie's powerful running.
And it was that weakness that Everton eventually exploited to claim a deserved 13th minute lead through Beattie's seventh strike of the season.
The build-up to the goal was simplicity itself and undoubtedly sparked a major inquest in the Arsenal dressing room about how the Everton striker was allowed to collect Cahill's hopeful, lobbed pass so easily.
With both Senderos and Campbell covering, there should have been no danger but Beattie simply shrugged off the defenders' flimsy challenges before calmly stabbing the ball past the advancing Jens Lehmann.
To add to Wenger's frustration, Arsenal should themselves have taken the lead just 60 seconds earlier when Freddie Ljungberg connected with Gilbert's low right-wing cross but saw his close range effort pushed onto the post by the alert Nigel Martyn.
That, though, was a rare first half threat to Martyn's goal and Everton would have been two up after 25 minutes had an over-confident Beattie taken more care and not clipped Fabregas's poor back-pass wide of Lehmann's left hand post.
Arsenal were never likely to be as ineffective after the break and for a 20-minute spell looked capable of hauling themselves back into the game.
But with Everton defence - bolstered by the 32nd-minute introduction of Alan Stubbs following his return to Goodison Park from Sunderland - stood firm and, tellingly, reduced Thierry Henry to nothing more than a bit-part role.

Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini admitted the 3-0 home victory, which saw them move to within five points of Serie A leaders Juventus, was far from easy.
Inter struggled after Esteban Cambiasso had given them a first-half lead and were indebted to their keeper Julio Cesar for a string of excellent saves.
The woodwork also saved Inter when Simone Barone's angled shot came back off the post before late goals from Ivan Cordoba and Luis Figo calmed their nerves.
"We knew it was going to be tough and we were under immense pressure at the start of the second half," Mancini said as his team extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 17 matches.
"Palermo were pushing forward and we struggled to get out of our own half. That happens sometimes, but in the end it turned out well for us and we managed to get the three points."
Juventus, who have 53 points, can restore their eight-point cushion over second-placed Inter if they beat Empoli on Sunday. Palermo remain 10th after their seventh defeat of the season.
In Saturday's early match Lazio snatched a 1-1 draw against Cagliari despite having two players sent off to maintain their unbeaten home record.
Inter took the lead in the 23rd minute at the San Siro.
Figo's right-wing corner was flicked on by Cordoba and Cambiasso's powerful header went in off the underside of the crossbar.
The home side were able to breathe more easily when Cordoba headed home Figo's corner in the 76th minute and Figo ensured a score that flattered Inter after his curling free-kick, intended as a cross, crept in.
Paolo Di Canio put Lazio ahead in the 36th minute at the Olympic stadium, his header from Massimo Oddo's cross hitting the post on its way in.
But the hosts were dealt a massive blow four minutes later when Sebastiano Siviglia received his marching orders for reacting angrily to a foul by Nelson Abeijon.
Cagliari capitalized on their numerical supremacy in the 69th minute when substitute Andrea Capone combined with Daniele Conti before rolling a cross to the unmarked Massimo Gobbi for an easy tap-in.
Lazio had the ball in the back of the net 15 minutes from time, but Sanchez Cribari was judged to have fouled Joe Bizera before heading past Antonio Chimenti.
Lazio captain Fabio Liverani then saw red for elbowing Michele Canini.
A point for Lazio left them in ninth position, while Cagliari climbed one place to 16th, four points clear of third from bottom Parma, ahead of Sunday's matches.

LONDON (AFP) - England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has accused several unnamed English Premier League clubs of corruption, according to a report.
Eriksson allegedly branded what the Sunday News of the World (NoW) said was a "struggling Premiership outfit" as being, in his words, the "worst at taking backhanders."
Meanwhile another club was labelled a "cesspit" by Eriksson, who accused it of "paying far too much for certain players because of illegal deals with agents."
Another team, described by the NoW as one of "England's most famous," was accused by Eriksson's agent, Athole Still, of having a manager who was involved in a transfer "scam."
However, the newspaper refused to name the three clubs allegedly involved for legal reasons.
Meanwhile Eriksson also said Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson should have left Old Trafford after the club's treble-winning season in 1999.
"After winning the treble he should have said 'thank you, goodbye'," the paper quoted the Swede as saying. Football Association spokesman Adrian Bevington said: "There will be no comment tonight (Saturday) on any allegations that have been made. We will reflect on them and assess them again in the morning."
Eriksson's comments follow claims by Luton manager Mike Newell of a 'bung culture' of improper transfer payments within the English games.
The England coach's remarks were the latest set of comments to be drawn from the News of the World's 'sting' operation that led Eriksson to announce Friday he was taking legal action against the British Sunday tabloid.
The 57-year-old was left deeply embarrassed after a reporter, posing as a wealthy Arab sheikh, extracted an admission, published in last Sunday's edition, that he would be interested in quitting England to take over as manager of Aston Villa after the World Cup, which starts in June in Germany.
He was also reported to have described Rio Ferdinand as "lazy," and claimed Michael Owen was only at Newcastle for the money, as well as boasting of his close relationship with England captain David Beckham.
Eriksson has not contested the paper's account of his remarks but claims that they were distorted by being taken out of context.
In the legal action, lawyers for Eriksson and Still will attempt to convince England's High Court that the newspaper had been guilty of an illegal "breach of confidence."
However, a spokeswoman for the paper said Friday it stood by the story 100 percent and promised "further revelations" which have now been published.
Following last week's revelations the FA, while privately concerned by Eriksson's conduct, made it clear his position was not under threat.
But Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, a member of the FA's international committee, told this Sunday's NoW: "Was he (Eriksson) indiscreet? Was he naive? I think he would probably admit he was both."
Eriksson was similarly embarrassed in 2004 when it was revealed he had held talks with Chelsea about the managerial vacancy eventually filled by Jose Mourinho.
The Swede is under contract with England until 2008 on a reported four million pounds a year salary.
He admitted on Friday however that he expects to be sacked in the summer if England do not reach the semi-finals in Germany and that he would step down should England win the World Cup.
Operations such as this one which snared the coach are common enough for Eriksson to have been ridiculed for failing to spot the "fake sheikh," the alter ego of NoW star reporter Mazher Mahmood.
Mahmood famously used the disguise to expose Queen Elizabeth II's daughter-in-law, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, for exploiting her royal connections to the benefit of the PR firm she worked for.

Jamaica and USA won their Group B encounters of the 2006 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Final Round against El Salvador and Surinam, respectively, at the Estadio Rafael Murillo Vidal in Córdoba, Mexico on Saturday afternoon. COMPLETE STANDINGS
Jamaica (1-1-0, 3 Points) defeated El Salvador (1-1-0, 3 Points) 3:1, while the USA (2-0-0, 6 Points) topped Surinam (0-2-0, 0 Points) by a 4:0 score.
Omolyn Davis, Kimmia Parker and Kenesha Reid all scored for the reggae girlz, while Patricia Elizabeth Campos had the only goal for the salvadoreñas in the loss.
In the other encounter on Saturday, goals by Alexandra Long, Kelley O’Hara, Amanda Poach and Amy Rodriguez led the stars & stripes to the victory over the Surinamese.
The 2006 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Final Round continues on Sunday with the last matches of Group A at the Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes in Veracruz as Trinidad & Tobago (0-2-0, 0 Points) takes on Panama (0-2-0, 0 Points) at 12:00 and then semifinal bound teams of Canada (2-0-0, 6 Points) and Mexico (2-0-0, 6 Points) compete for the group crown at 15:00.
At the conclusion of the first round on 23 January, the winners and runners-up of each group will earn a place in the event’s semifinals at Veracruz’s Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes on 25 January, with the winners of the semifinal games earning a place as CONCACAF representatives in FIFA’s U-20 Women’s World Championship.
CONCACAF’s third spot in the FIFA event will be determined by a third-place play-off game between the two losing semifinalists at the Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes on 27 January, before the two finalists meet for the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 crown later in the day.

2006 CONCACAF WOMEN’S UNDER-20 FINAL ROUND
Group A: Veracruz, MEXICO; Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes

22.01.2006: TRINIDAD & TOBAGO – PANAMA (12:00) R: Sandra SERAFINI (USA)
MEXICO – CANADA (15:00)R: Dianne FERREIRA-JAMES (GUY)

ROME, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Defender Fabio Cannavaro scored twice for Serie A leaders Juventus who came from behind to beat Empoli 2-1 and maintain their eight-point cushion on Sunday.
Empoli took an early lead through Sergio Almiron, but Italy international Cannavaro twice headed in from corners to seal Juve's 14th consecutive Serie A win at the Stadio delle Alpi - a run that extends back into last season.
Juve have 56 points from 21 matches. Inter Milan lie second on 48 points after beating Palermo 3-0 on Saturday.
AC Milan consolidated third place on 46 points with a 3-0 victory over Siena, Brazilian Kaka scoring twice.
Livorno grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser to draw 1-1 against Treviso and hang on to fifth place while AS Roma notched up their fifth consecutive league victory by brushing aside 10-man Udinese 4-1.
In a later match, fourth-placed Fiorentina host Messina (kickoff 1930 GMT).

AMSTERDAM, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Feyenoord's title ambitions suffered a setback after they were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at home by Roda JC Kerkrade in the Dutch first division on Sunday.
After 20 matches PSV Eindhoven, 2-0 home winners against RKC Waalwijk on Friday, are top with 48 points, three above AZ Alkmaar, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Groningen on Saturday, and Feyenoord.
Ajax Amsterdam moved up to fourth with 34 points after goals in the last two minutes by Hedwiges Maduro and Urby Emanuelson turned the tide at Twente Enschede to book a 3-2 win.
Blaise N'Kufo opened the scoring for the home side after 24 minutes, set up by Georgi Gakhokidze, and restored the lead a minute after Markus Rosenberg's 51st minute equaliser.
NEC Nijmegen, level on points with Ajax, thrashed lowly ADO Den Haag 5-0 with on-loan Manchester United midfielder David Jones scoring twice.

By Trevor Huggins.

CAIRO, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo captain Lomana LuaLua says it was his duty to head a strike threat over pay that could have led to his side boycotting their opening match at the African Nations Cup.
LuaLua and his team mates haggled with officials until the early hours of Saturday's opener against Togo, maintining their threat until six hours before kickoff. Even then, it took a personal phone call from head of state Joseph Kabila just minutes before they walked onto the pitch to reassure LuaLua and his players that money would be paid.
LuaLua went on to score one goal and make the other in a convincing 2-0 victory over a Togo side who have qualified for the World Cup in Germany.
"It should have been sorted out a long time ago what they were going to pay the players," the Portsmouth striker told reporters.
"Last night everyone was up till about four o'clock trying to sort it and as a captain it's your job to do that.
"I could have turned round said 'I play in England and I don't really care if they don't give money'. But we're all in there and they've got families. We've got to be united... and as a captain I've got to stick up for everyone."
With nothing settled, the players finally went to bed, resolved not to play. There was no breakthrough in the morning and it was not until two o'clock that the team decided to play.
"We told them that whatever you're offering the players you can keep it, and when you come back with something better you can let us know, but we're going to play this game.
"We know how much it means to our people back home, because they've been waiting for this game and we can't let down the people who have spent their money to travel here."

PRESIDENTIAL CALL

Kabila's call gave LuaLua's side a lift and although the team are still waiting for their money, the captain is putting his trust in the head of state.
"I spoke to him 15 minutes before the game. He told us to really do well and that he would sort things out. That was a bonus for us.
"We're still waiting for it to be solved...but the president gave his word and I'm sure he won't let us down.
Manager Claude LeRoy supported the players' cause and stayed up with his men and LuaLua acknowledged it has been hard on the Frenchman who just wanted to prepare his team for the the tournament.
"The manager's been brilliant," he said. "He was down yesterday...he's been through a lot."
Siding with his team, LeRoy had told a packed news confrence: "There are people in the government who do not respect our players."
Asked if his strike threat had been a serious one, LuaLua said: "Yes. Because I can't play by myself. I need my team."
But he also pointed to his team's promising display at Cairo's Military Stadium and a result which sets up them up nicely in Group B before Wednesday's game against Angola.
"We showed it wasn't just about money," LuaLua said. "It's about spirit. We're not here just to participate in ths tournament and go home. We want to show everyone what we can do and obviously we've started really well."
Saturday was also a personal triumph for LuaLua, who has waited two years to make up for his sending off at the last finals against hosts Tunisia. The skipper had been dismissed for kicking out at another player in an off-the-ball incident after 38 minutes.
"In Tunisia I let myself down by getting a red card and that's still haunting me," he said. "I couldn't wait to play in the African Nations Cup again and now I've been given that chance.
"I just want to show everyone that I'm not a bad, arrogant, bad-tempered player."

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) - The United States men's national team begins preparations for the upcoming World Cup on Sunday with a friendly against Canada at Torero Stadium.
American coach Bruce Arena will have 28 players from which to chose for his starting lineup. All but defender Heath Pearce are Major League Soccer players who are in the midst of their offseason.
Only 20 players will be on the roster that travels to Germany in June to play for the world's championship. Since many of the team's staples - including star goalkeeper Kasey Keller and midfielder Claudio Reyna - are playing abroad, there are a limited number of slots available to the domestic-based players.
One of the players available to Arena is 16-year-old D.C. United midfielder Freddy Adu, who is a longshot to make the World Cup squad.
Team USA has been idle since playing Scotland to a 1-1 draw in Glasgow on November 12, capping one of the most successful seasons in national team history.
One of the team's accomplishments was winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup in July. En route to the title, the U.S. posted a 2-0 triumph over Canada on July 9 in Seattle's Qwest Field.
The U.S. is 6-0-5 against Canada since 1985, blanking its northern neighbor the last five meetings.

LONDON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Manchester United's profit for the year ending June 2005 fell by 12.3 million pounds to 46 million ($80.88 million), the premier league club's chief executive David Gill said on Sunday.
"The forecast for 2006 is very good but I am not going to predict profits will be over 50 million," Gill told BBC radio.
"Like any business we aim to push profits up year on year but our performance in the Champions League will have a knock-on effect. "But going forward, the new stadium expansion means there will be nearly 8,000 extra seats from the start of next season and the end of 2007 is looking very positive."
The club, formerly quoted on the London stock exchange, has been taken private by the Glazer family since the end of the last financial year. United were knocked out of this season's Champions League during the group stage.
Gill also said the club had paid 2.2 million in agents' fees, including 1.5 million to buy Wayne Rooney from Everton.

LONDON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Arsenal will not present their captain Thierry Henry with an ultimatum over a new contract, vice-chairman David Dein said.
"Discussions are ongoing but we're not going to push it," Dein told The Sunday Times. "When Thierry feels he's ready he will come to us.
"But we're not going to give him an ultimatum, we respect him too much for that."
Henry, 28, said this month he would stay with the Premier League club after speculation that he was considering a move to Barcelona. His contract runs until the end of next season.
This season he became the top goal scorer in the north London club's history after joining Arsenal from Juventus in August 1999.
Arsenal, who will move to a new 60,000-seat stadium next year, completed the signing of teenager Theo Walcott from Southampton last week.
They had already signed Togo forward Emmanuel Adebayor and French midfielder Abou Diaby.
"We are trying to build Arsenal to be one of the best teams in the world, that's our focus. In all my time here we have never completed three signings in six days, which we've just done," Dein said.
"Everybody should realise that as a board we are extremely ambitious."

LONDON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - West Ham United have completed a club record transfer for Norwich City striker Dean Ashton worth seven million pounds ($12.3 million).
In a statement on its website, the premier league club said on Sunday that Ashton had agreed personal terms and would undergo a medical in time for Monday's match against Fulham.
Ashton, 22 and a former England under-21 international, scored 18 goals in 46 games for second division Norwich.
"We are paying a club record transfer fee for Dean because we feel at 22 he represents an investment that can benefit West Ham United for years to come at the highest level," West Ham managing director Paul Aldridge told the club's website. West Ham are 10th in the Premier League with 29 points.

PARIS, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Former Olympique Marseille chairman Bernard Tapie has said he will sue former club player Jean-Jacques Eydelie and the French sports weekly L'Equipe Magazine over an interview published on Saturday.
Eydelie, who was found guilty of bribery in the 1993 Valenciennes-OM match fixing scandal, accused Tapie of various frauds in the interview.
In response Tapie told The Journal du Dimanche he would sue Eydelie for libel.
"Eydelie, who is out of a job, tries to blackmail my former players and the former members of my staff to get some money," Tapie said.
"I'm going to sue him for libelling. We are not going to make the Valenciennes-OM story again. A verdict was issued. It's over now."
Tapie, a former minister in French president Francois Mitterrand government during the 1990s, was sentenced to eight months in prison.
In the interview Eydelie, who is to publish a book about the club, said "cheating was like a second nature for Tapie" and added match rigging occured on a regular basis.
Eydelie also said Tapie had masterminded the bribery of several Valenciennes players before a French league match won 1-0 away by Marseille in 1993.
He said he was ordered to give money to the wife of former player Christophe Robert in order to convince him to lose the match.
Marseille clinched their fifth consecutive title but they were stripped of the championships in the following year and demoted to the second division after the scandal erupted.

DOPING

Eydelie also said that he and several of his team mates received an injection before the 1993 Champions League final against AC Milan.
"Before the final, we were asked to stand in a line in order to receive an injection," Eydelie was quoted as saying.
"(Former German international) Rudi Voeller was the only one to kick up a fuss. He went on yelling at everyone in the changing room, speaking in his mother language."
Marseille beat Milan 1-0 to become the first French club to lift Europe's top club trophy.
Eydelie did not provide any details about the substance injected into the players but said he felt physically weird during the match.
Tapie denied the doping allegations.
"An anti-doping test was performed after the match in Munich. It turned out to be negative," he said. "Mass doping is impossible in sport. Those who take drugs do it with the help of their personal doctor."
Judge Eric de Mongolfier, who led the investigation in the Valenciennes-OM case, said Eydelie's revelations were of little interest.
"Back then, he (Eydelie) refused to put the blame on Tapie. What he says now only confirms what was going on in the soccer world at that time," de Mongolfier said.
Several former Marseille players reacted cautiously to the accusations.
"Eydelie is a friend of mine but we can clearly see that his only concern is to get the public's attention on him again with this statement," said former France captain Marcel Desailly.
Voeller called the interview "unbelievable".
I can't remember what happened before the Champions League final," he said. "I can't remember my team mate receiving an injection of any kind."
In Italy, AC Milan deputy chairman Adriano Galliani asked the European soccer governing body to launch an investigation into the doping allegations.
"We are certain that UEFA is to investigate the case and if they didn't do it we will officially ask them to," Galliani said on the club's website.


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By Brian Homewood.

CAIRO, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Togo coach Stephan Keshi called key striker Emmanuel Adebayor a "cry baby" on Sunday for refusing to start Saturday's African Nations Cup match against the Democratic Republic of Congo.
However, Keshi said Adebayor, whose 10 goals in the qualifiers propelled Togo to their first World Cup appearance, would be staying with the squad in Egypt. "He is a cry baby," said Keshi of the Arsenal striker.
"He should be spear-heading the team like Didier Drogba does with Ivory Coast or Samuel Eto'o does with Cameroon."
"He should be leading the players along but instead he is dragging the players behind."
Keshi added: "He is still part of the squad but he has to give me what I want."
The lanky 22-year-old, who the night before said he was going back to Lome to see his mother who was ill, was seen having breakfast with his team-mates but refused to comment on the incident.
Togo, who caused a major upset by qualifying for the World Cup at Senegal's expense, were beaten 2-0 in Saturday's Group B match.
Their performance raised questions about whether they could hold their own in Germany.
Keshi's outburst came after a strange twist of events the night before.
Despite being included on the official team sheet, Adebayor failed to appear on the pitch and was replaced by Adekanmi Olufade.
Organisers later issued a hand-written note saying he had a digestive problem.
After the game, Keshi said he had initially dropped Adebayor in the morning, then changed his mind. However, Adebayor had refused to play.
Keshi, a former Nigeria captain who played in a record-breaking three Nations Cup finals, said Adebayor had become upset when he was told off for missing training sessions during the run-up for the tournament.
"I know he would never do that with (Arsenal coach) Arsene Wenger or he would be kicked out," said Keshi.
"He is a baby compared to me, I have a son who is older than he is and I do not need to have a competition with any player.
"We have to go back to the drawing board."

LONDON (AFP) - English Premiership giants Manchester United are set on Monday to announce a 12.3million pounds (18million euros) drop in annual profits to 46million pounds (67million euros), chief executive David Gill said.
The figures will be the first to be released since US business tycoon Malcolm Glazer completed his takeover last summer, but include only three months of his direction.
Gill, who reports to Glazer, had forecast a possible fall 12 months ago, because of reduced TV money from the league and lower income from the Champions League the key elements.
With United already out of Europe this season means there is no immediate prospect of profits rising substantially when the next set of results are announced in 12 months' time.
But Gill said he was confident the outlook for 2007 is particularly rosy.
"Like any business, we aim to push profits up year on year but our performance in the Champions League will have a knock-on effect," Gill told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.
"The forecast for 2006 is very good but I am not going to predict profits will be over 50million pounds. "But going forward, the new stadium expansion means there will be nearly 8,000 extra seats from the start of next season and the end of 2007 is looking very positive."
Gill also confirmed that United paid out 2.2million pounds (3.2million euros) in agents fees over the previous year, the vast majority of which went in the second - and concluding part - of Wayne Rooney's 27million pounds (39million euros) move from Everton in August 2004.
"Agents provide a service - the issue is who pays for it, the player or the acquiring club?" Gill said in defense of the payments," he said..
"We operate in a market for world class players and one of the costs in acquiring them is the service of an agent."

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MADRID (AFP) - David Beckham refused to comment after getting his first league goal of the season in Real Madrid's 3-1 win over Cadiz but others had plenty to say.
"I wouldn't give the team 10 out of 10. It would have to be a 12," said a jubilant Real coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro on Sunday, praising the fact that Real bounced back after going 1-0 down.
"The most important thing is the positive spirit of the side, the sacrifices everyone made for the good to the team. Without this we wouldn't have got back into the game," add Lopez Caro.
Real, under Lopez Caro's guidance, have now won their last five league and cup outings and are unbeaten in 2006.
"Madrid now are cured," trumpeted an editorial in Spanish sports daily Marca on Sunday, Spain's biggest selling newspaper of any description despite, or maybe because of, its pro-Real stance.
With Real still in the Champions League and the Spanish Cup, as well as the Spanish title race albeit at a long distance from the runaway leaders Barcelona, pundits and players are again talking about Madrid lifting a major honour.
Real have won nothing since Beckham signed for Real in the summer of 2003, except for the relatively insignificant Spanish SuperCup a few months after he arrived. The dark days at the end of the reign of former coach Wanderley Luxemburgo, who was sacked seven weeks ago, now seem a distant memory.
Real, by general consensus, are showing a new vigour and commitment even if they are still struggling to regularly play with their trademark silky-smooth style.
"We are reaching our short term objectives and week-by-week we are closer to our long term objectives, which come at the end of the season, that's what we are focussed on and that's what we are working towards," said Lopez Caro.
Real responded on Saturday with two goals from Roberto Carlos and Beckham within the space of three minutes in the second half, both strikes coming from free kicks.
A stunning long-range volleyed lob from Robinho eight minutes from the whistle completed the scoring.
"We have made mistakes but we are back on the right road again," said Robinho on Sunday.
"Roberto (Carlos) and David (Beckham) are the best in the world at taking free kicks. The first one Roberto scored with sheer power; the second one they had the goalkeeper thinking it was Roberto who was going to take it but then David surprised him," added Real's Brazilian international striker.
Beckham celebrated all of Real's efforts on the field but decided to continue his tetchy relationship with the British and Spanish media who follow his every step.
As usual when Real play in front of their home fans at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, the world's richest and most high profile football player disappeared quietly into the night via the player's private car park.
The England captain's refusal to speak was sad considering his second half was possibly his best 45 minutes for many months, although Beckham's repeated mauling in the British tabloid papers have made him wary of opening his mouth.

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