Soca Warriors Online.

By Jiwon Chung.

SEOUL, (Reuters) - South Korea coach Dick Advocaat said on Tuesday form was the only factor in picking his squad for the World Cup finals in Germany. Speaking ahead of a World Cup warm-up game against fellow qualifiers Angola in Seoul on Wednesday, Advocaat said players would have to perform consistently well at club level to assure themselves a ticket to Germany this summer.
"We always say that the coach doesn't make the line-up, players make the line-up. If a player shows the quality, he will play," the Dutchman told a news conference.
"Our strategy is not about players or about individuals. It's about team."
South Korea have been drawn in Group G with France, Togo and Switzerland.
Advocaat's squad of 24 for the Angola match includes several European-based players such as Park Ji-sung of Manchester United and Lee Young-pyo of Tottenham.
But it does not include fan favourite Ahn Jung-hwan, who scored some key goals when South Korea reached the semi-finals on homesoil in 2002.
Cha Du-ri of Frankfurt and Seol Ki-hyeon of Wolverhampton Wanderers were also missing.
Assistant coach Pim Verbeek stressed players had to make the starting line-up at club level before they could play internationals.
"Ahn Jung-hwan not playing in Germany is useless for the national team, so he has to start playing in his team and the same as Cha Du-ri."
Ahn has had little regular playing time since he joined Bundesliga club MSV Duisburg in January.
Advocaat, who managed the Dutch squad in Euro 2004, said a recent overseas trip had been a success.
"I think players are improving a lot. We played ten games away, sometimes in difficult circumstances, and we had great results." he said.
"What we have to improve is that we give less chances and score more goals and if we do that then we are winning. It's simple as it is."

Serioux, Ikangu signed with club, awaiting visa approval.
By Dylan Butler/MLSnet.com Staff.

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The MetroStars search for a defensive midfield replacement for Michael Bradley has come to an end with the signing of Canadian international Adrian Serioux and French teenager Elie Ikangu. The two have come to contract terms with the MetroStars and an official announcement is pending visa approval.
Terms of the contracts were not disclosed but Serioux will be fill the fourth and final senior international slot on the Metros roster while Ikangu would fill the second of five junior international slots. They will provide cover in the midfield now that Bradley is with Heerenveen of the Dutch Eredivisie.
Serioux, 26, most recently played for Millwall of the English Championship (second tier) but returned home for personal reasons. He has made eight appearances for Canada and his most recent cap came in a scoreless draw against the U.S. on Jan. 22.
Serioux is currently with the Canadian national team, which is preparing for an international friendly against Austria in Vienna on Wednesday. He is not expected to play, having suffered a broken toe in training last week.
"I wouldn't say really good," Metros coach Mo Johnston said when asked about Serioux's preseason thus far. "I'd say he did enough to make us sign him. With his height and experience, it helps us in that midfield area. He's strong, is passing more to Amado [Guevara] and Youri [Djorkaeff] and will sit in that pocket and get tackles in. That's what we want from Adrian."
Ikangu, 19, has played with Newcastle's Charles N'Zogbia at French side Le Havre and was compared to Chelsea's Claude Makelele by Johnston after the club's foreigner tryout camp at the Giants Stadium practice bubble in January.
But Ikangu is not quite as strong as Makelele and that's the reason he didn't stick with English Second Division side Darlington or English Premiership side Middlesbrough, where he was on trial in January.
Johnston said signing Serioux gives him flexibility when it comes to the type of formation to use.
"It's very important because I now have a situation, if we add these two or three players, which we're very close in getting, then I can play 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 3-5-2.
"I'm comfortable in every position," Johnston said. "And that's even coming off our bench."

LONDON, (Reuters) - Diego Maradona is proclaiming Barcelona's Lionel Messi as his true successor. "I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentine football and his name is Messi," Argentina's 1986 World Cup-winning captain was quoted a saying on Friday.
"Messi is the best player in the world, along with Ronaldinho. I see him as very similar to me," Maradona told the BBC referring also to Barcelona's Brazilian playmaker.
Maradona was speaking after 18-year-old Messi's brilliant display for Barcelona against Chelsea in their Champions League match at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
The teenager was far from overawed in a game between two of the best club sides in the world and played a big part in Barcelona's 2-1 victory.
The Spanish sports media on Thursday hailed Messi's coming of age in the round of 16 match, the opening leg of the rivals' first knockout round tie.
"He's a leader and is offering lessons in beautiful football. He has something different to any other player in the world," Maradona said.

Soccernet.com - The Republic of Ireland's all-time leading goalscorer Robbie Keane will today be confirmed as his country's new captain. Keane is surprisingly to be awarded the armband as part of the new regime under boss Steve Staunton, and following the retirement of former skipper Kenny Cunningham, with his 'debut' tomorrow when he leads the team out for the Lansdowne Road friendly with Sweden.
Birmingham centre-back Cunningham stepped down from international football last October in the wake of Ireland's failure to qualify for this summer's World Cup finals.
In light of Staunton's arrival six weeks ago, it initially appeared as if Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given was favourite to take up the captaincy.
However, Given confirmed at Sunday night's eircom/FAI International Awards dinner - at which he was named senior player of the year - he would not be leading the side.
Manchester City defender Richard Dunne and Everton midfielder Kevin Kilbane had also been mooted, but it is Keane who is to step into an unaccustomed role.
The Spurs striker is not lacking in experience, though, because with 64 appearances under his belt he is the third most-capped player in Staunton's squad behind Kilbane and Given, the latter likely to be named vice-captain.
It is for his goalscoring exploits he has become most renowned, with 25 to his credit, with the 25-year-old overhauling Niall Quinn's 21-goal mark last year.
Staunton, meanwhile, finally returned to the training ground for the first time yesterday following his appointment in mid-January.
It has been an exhilarating, breathtaking period of time for the 37-year-old, with the only downside being the questions raised about his lack of experience.
Yet for Ireland's most-capped player, with 102 appearances to his name, being a manager is a role Staunton feels he has been building up to for many years.
'Once I hit 30, I started to think more and more about management,' revealed Staunton.
'In particular since the World Cup in 2002, I knew my body could only go on so long.
'At the time the FAI approached me about becoming manager I felt I had six months, maybe another year left in me.
'Before then, in my spare time, I'd been going to matches quite a bit, reserve team football mainly, watching players in the area in which I live.
'So why people might think me just sitting watching games might now come as a bit of a culture shock, not a bit of it.
'Management is one of those things I always felt I would love to give a go, so when this opportunity arose, it was too good to turn down.
'I was over the moon when I was approached. To even be considered was big, but to be in the position now is enormous.
'I realise I'm very fortunate and privileged to have a chance to do it at the top level for my country.'
While it may be perceived Staunton is being thrown in at the deep end, as far as he is concerned there are no mysteries to the game of football.
If it is as simple as he makes out, then he should do well, adding: 'Within football, there's no great science.
'Everybody has ideas on systems and shapes, and this and that, but at the end of the day it's 11 versus 11. You can only put 11 out there.
'Myself and my staff will give the players our ideas, but they are the ones that once they cross the white line must deliver.
'And what I want to see is the energy and drive I had as a player, and which you saw in the teams managed by Bobby [Robson].'

FRANKFURT, (Reuters) - With the countdown to the 2006 World Cup reaching 100 days on Wednesday, organisers just want to be left to work in peace after a bruising start to 2006.
At first glance, there seems little for the organising committee to be worried about ahead of the start of the tournament in Munich on June 9.
The 12 stadiums are all staging matches with time to spare following a 1.5 billion euro ($1.78 billion) rebuilding programme, and ticket sales are all but complete.
The OC's reluctance to mark the milestone is understandable, however, considering the way their New Year's Bavarian breakfast party turned out.
Over beer and sausages, Franz Beckenbauer said Germany must cut out the arguments, avoid any more self-inflicted damage and concentrate simply on the task in hand.
'We can't afford another spanner in the works,' Beckenbauer said in what amounted to a plea to the media to stop looking for trouble.
Within days, Stiftung Warentest, a prominent German consumer protection group was unveiling a report that questioned safety in several World Cup stadiums and created bad publicity around the globe.
Just as the story was fizzling out, the OC was dealt another blow by FIFA's announcement that the opening gala set for two days before the start of the tournament had been cancelled.
Beckenbauer, the OC's president and the figurehead for the tournament's organisation, looked on aghast.
'Our nation made itself look a bit ridiculous in front of the whole world,' Beckenbauer told Bild newspaper.
Ridiculous, perhaps, but still perfectly capable of getting on with the job.
While national media have been laying into Germany's organisation of the tournament, the OC has kept up the furious workrate at its Frankfurt HQ, while Beckenbauer has been taking care of the PR work.
The OC rejected the criticisms of the stadium report, swiftly and convincingly. The stadiums have all passed FIFA inspections and will be among the safest in the world for the tournament, they said.
The row over the opening gala has now dissipated as well. Slow ticket sales were proof enough that there was no great interest in a separate opening gala and instead parties will now be held by the host cities across Germany.
The last of three significant ticket offers was organised without trouble and the tournament is all but certain to be a sell-out.
'The World Cup could start tomorrow,' Beckenbauer told reporters in New York on the latest leg of his marathon tour of all 31 qualifying teams for the tournament.
That is not quite true, of course.
The 12 stadiums will not be turned over to the OC until after the end of the domestic season in Germany in mid-May.
Organisers will then have just a few weeks to make all the necessary adjustments: enlarging press areas in the stands, setting up the media centres, assigning parking areas, putting up new signs, establishing offices for themselves and FIFA and taking care of all the other operational minutia.
There is also a team workshop to get through in Duesseldorf next week. That is certain to throw up new logistical problems, as the 32 teams get down to the nitty gritty of how they are going to set up their own operations, while following competition rules.
There are 4,000 volunteers to train and assign, the 10,000 media workers to accredit and the 430 million euro operational budget to manage.
Then there is the threat of another unexpected spanner in the works, to use Beckenbauer's phrase.
Bild newspaper last week raised the pointless question of whether a bird flu pandemic might cause the World Cup to be cancelled.
It was just the sort of issue that might have sidetracked organisers for days or weeks but the matter was largely ignored in the wider media.
That was just as well. Germany has got most of the work done since being awarded the World Cup in 2000, but there is still plenty to do as the clock ticks down.

Soccernet.com - Germany captain Michael Ballack refuted a British newspaper report on Tuesday that he has signed a four-year deal worth £25 million ($43 million) to join Chelsea next season.
The Bayern Munich midfielder, in Florence for Germany's World Cup warm-up against Italy on Wednesday, issued a statement through German FA spokesman Harald Stenger saying: 'I have not signed anything and I was also not in London.'
Earlier on Tuesday Ballack's agent Michael Becker had also denied the claim that the player had signed a deal that would make him the world's highest-paid player.
Britain's Daily Mail reported that Ballack, who is out of contract after four years with Bayern Munich at the end of the season, had agreed to move to the big-spending London club on a weekly wage of £121,000 ($210,500).
'This is all starting to get boring and tiring,' Becker told Germany's Spiegel Online: 'I can only say that Michael has not signed anywhere.'
In Munich, Bayern officials declined to comment.
Chelsea's policy is not to discuss any potential transfers until a contract is signed.
The Daily Mail said that Ballack, who joined Bayern after helping Bayer Leverkusen reach the 2002 Champions League final against Real Madrid, met Chelsea officials, including manager Jose Mourinho, twice last month in London.
Although Mourinho generally steers away from signing superstar players, the lure of Ballack, one of the most complete midfielders in the game, could persuade him to bend that policy.
Earlier this season Ballack had an offer from Bayern for a four-year contract worth a reported total of 36 million euros ($43 million). It would have been the most lucrative deal in Bundesliga history.
The club withdrew the offer in November after Ballack failed to meet their deadline.
Bayern still want to persuade the 29-year-old to sign a new deal but have said on different terms to the previous offer they tore up in anger over his failure to make up his mind.
They are aware they will receive nothing for him if he moves on a Bosman free transfer once his contract expires in July.
Ballack, Germany's Player of the Year in 2005, has long hinted he would like to spend the next segment of his career abroad with a team capable of winning the Champions League.
Clubs who have reportedly have been in the running for his services have included Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus.

By Reuters.

Netherlands coach Marco van Basten wants to delay the moment he has to announce his final squad for the FIFA World Cup™ finals in Germany. In an interview with the Dutch press agency ANP, Van Basten said that he still hopes FIFA will change the 15 May deadline.
"The problem is that I can only see my players at their club and can't work with them myself," said Van Basten. "I have to name 23 players on 15 May, while our build-up starts on 22 May.
"I believe you can make your final choice if you have worked for a week or ten days with each other. I would prefer it if I could leave my choice until one day before the tournament starts, though I understand that will be tough for the organisers."
Van Basten also expressed his worries about the development of Liverpool defender Jan Kromkamp, who made his Netherlands debut last season and became a regular as right wing-back.
However, Kromkamp left AZ Alkmaar to join Villarreal in the off-season but after a disappointing first half of the season he joined Liverpool during the winter transfer window.
"It is annoying that Kromkamp, who is a good player, made the wrong choices for his career," Van Basten said. "It is sad when someone throws away his own chances and also doesn't help us. It seems to us that Jan is more busy with peripheral events."
Kromkamp became first choice at right wing-back under Van Basten, who took charge in July 2004, although he has only made eight appearances because of several injuries.
"Jan has to make choices. I have no influence on that, but if he wanted my advice, that was possible," added Van Basten, who did not pick Kromkamp for his team's friendly international against Ecuador on Wednesday. Kromkamp has made only two starts in his eight games for Liverpool in the Premier League and FA Cup since his January transfer.

Netherlands coach Marco van Basten has named the following 22-man squad for the friendly against Ecuador on 1 March in Amsterdam.:

Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Henk Timmer (AZ Alkmaar)

Defenders: Urby Emanuelson (Ajax Amsterdam), Tim de Cler (AZ Alkmaar), Kew Jaliens (AZ Alkmaar), Joris Mathijsen (AZ Alkmaar), Barry Opdam (AZ Alkmaar), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Barcelona), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord), Khalid Boulahrouz (HSV Hamburg)

Midfielders: Hedwiges Maduro (Ajax Amsterdam), Denny Landzaat (AZ Alkmaar), Mark van Bommel (Barcelona), Nicky Hofs (Feyenoord), George Boateng (Middlesbrough), Phillip Cocu (PSV Eindhoven)

Forwards: Arjen Robben (Chelsea), Romeo Castelen (Feyenoord), Dirk Kuijt (Feyenoord), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (PSV Eindhoven), Martijn Meerdink (AZ Alkmaar)

'We believe in each other'
By: FIFAworldcup.com.

England midfielder Frank Lampard took time out from preparing for Wednesday's friendly against Uruguay to discuss everything from Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor as national coach to his excitement at playing in his first FIFA World Cup™ finals.
In between the Chelsea star explained why missing out on Korea/Japan 2002 had made him a better player and underlined his conviction that the present England squad have the maturity required to go all the way in Germany this summer.

FIFAworldcup.com: This is the first time the squad have been together since the news came that Sven-Goran Eriksson would leave his position at the end of the FIFA World Cup. Do you think he'll discuss the situation with you?Frank Lampard: I don't know if we'll sit down and discuss it, that's probably for the manager and the captain to decide, but for me it doesn't change anything in the short term. We'll be going to Germany to try and win the World Cup, so if the manager decides to speak to us, fair enough, but if not, we'll continue to concentrate on our aim. We'll look to the future afterwards.

Will you be sad to see Sven go?
Yes I will be. I will always be grateful to him for giving me an extended run in the team. I think I had one cap when he was appointed, now I've got over 30. I've enjoyed playing under him. He has confidence and belief in me. Before he came I had never been involved in big England games, so I will always be thankful to him for giving me that chance.

Would you like to win it for him?
That sounds a bit cliched. I think it would be great to win it for the manager, for the team, for the fans and the public. We're all fighting the same battle to try and win it for the country.

As a senior player, would you like to be consulted about who takes over?
No. I don't think it's my position or a duty for any of the players. I think it's the FA's decision. None of us will be expected to be involved at all. I'm sure the FA will choose the right man.

You work under a foreign coach at Chelsea in Jose Mourinho, but at national level do you feel that the England manager should be English?
I've never held the view that an Englishman should be the manager of England. I think that in modern football, that is a pretty one-dimensional viewpoint. It should be given to the best man for the job. We want a person who is going to get results and do the best job for the country.

The FA will end the English season prematurely to help give the players time to recuperate. Do you think this extra time for a break will freshen everyone up?
I think so. I was involved in EURO 2004 and I realised how much preparation plays a part in getting the team ready for a major tournament. You need to get everyone right. The most important person before a tournament is the manager. You have to do what he wants to do and he wants us to be in the best possible shape for the World Cup. You can understand his reasoning. It's the top tournament in the world and little things do make a big difference.

By the time the FIFA World Cup comes round, it will have been a long season for you. Are you feeling that all the games are taking their toll?
No. I feel good. We had a quiet month in January and only played three games which was the least amount of competitive fixtures that I've played in four weeks for some time now. I didn't enjoy it. I wanted to keep playing, keep winning – that's what keeps me on top form. Personally I don't have any worries about playing until the end of the season. I think the more games I play the better form I'm in. Of course, I do have stages where I get more tired, particularly after a hectic run of big games, but I think I'm quite fortunate, first of all with injuries and the fact that my natural fitness is pretty good.

If Jose Mourinho asked you to be rested for a friendly, what would your reaction be?
I would respect what he said. I would understand where he was coming from, because it's a hectic schedule at the moment and we've got important games coming up, but I don't think the manager would say that because he knows how important playing is – and playing for my country is for me. Whenever you hear Mourinho speak, he speaks about helping John (Terry), Joe (Cole) and I, not just for Chelsea but for England too. I don't think he'd ever say, 'I don't want you to play for your country'. He might say, 'Be sensible' and speak to the England manager about how long we're on the pitch for, but I think he understands the importance. He's a patriotic man.

You missed out on Korea/Japan 2002 – are you getting excited about the prospect of playing in your first FIFA World Cup?
Definitely. As the weeks go by I'm getting more and more excited. Before the turn of the year, the World Cup was at the back of my mind, rather than at the front. But now, as the season goes on, the World Cup is getting into my head. Obviously, I want to do well for Chelsea, but I'm starting to get excited about Germany.

Does that fact that you didn't go to the Far East four years ago still disappoint you?
Not so much now. I actually see it as a turning point in my career. I am not saying that I became a better player because I didn't go to Korea and Japan, but I used it as a positive and now I'm looking forward to being involved in my first World Cup.

The nucleus of this team has been together for quite a while now - do you think it has developed its own style? Does it require much management?
I think you always need managing, especially going into a big tournament. Going into high-pressured games, as we will do in this World Cup, we need a big manager – and we have that. The team has grown together and become more at ease with each other. We trust each other and that can only be good. If you asked any of the players 'Can we win the World Cup?' the answer would be yes because we believe in each other. If the manager does his job well and if the players do their job well then we have a very good chance.

Have you and Steven Gerrard talked about how you will work together as a central midfield pairing?
Not yet, but I am sure we will do. If and how we play together is a matter for the manager to decide. Whenever I've played with Steven, I've felt very comfortable, but I've also felt more comfortable playing with a holding-type midfielder. It's all about adapting. I am sure the manager will pick the best team according to the opposition we play. It's good that we can change our style. But whoever is selected and whatever system is chosen, we have to make the most of it, because this is the ultimate tournament, this is where it has to happen. Friendlies are great, but it’s all about preparation for the World Cup. Hopefully, we will get it right.

By Ian Roache.

Dundee United striker Collin Samuel hopes to take a step closer to realising his World Cup dream when Trinidad and Tobago take on Iceland in a friendly in London tonight.
Having been left out for the successful play-off against Bahrain, Samuel is keen to impress coach Leo Beenhakker, if given the chance at Loftus Road.
His club manager, Craig Brewster, is backing the striker to play his way to Germany.
“This is a big time for all the Trinidad boys and they will be playing out of their skins in this game,” said the United boss.
“Sammy has certainly got the strength and pace that would be useful in the World Cup. But he needs to shown that every Saturday, not just in flashes.
“If he does get there it will be great for him and the club.
“It is a tremendous achievement for a country like Trinidad and Tobago to get to the finals and I wish Sammy and them well.”

THE AGE - Sydney FC will wrap star-signing Dwight Yorke in cotton wool when he returns from international duty on Friday in a bid to have its key player near 100 per cent for Sunday's A-League grand final against Central Coast.
Coach Pierre Littbarski, along with the rest of Sydney's squad and supporters, will hold their collective breath early on Wednesday morning when the league's most expensive player captains Trinidad and Tobago in an international friendly against Finland at Loftus Road in London.
The club will be hoping their blue-chip investment returns to Sydney on Friday unscathed from the fixture.
Yorke will re-join his teammates for the side's training session that afternoon following his 20-hour flight.
But while back in town, Littbarski admits Yorke's role in the side's final two practice runs will be minimal.
"Coming back so late, we have two days, so he will do some recovery work," Littbarski said.
"He can't do that much, just some set plays on Friday and Saturday.
"I'll just put him to bed, read him some stories and hope that he recovers," Littbarski quipped.
While conceding Yorke's absence for all-but two days of the club's grand final preparations was far from ideal, Littbarski understood the former Manchester United star's desire to play the friendly.
The club had no choice but to release Yorke as the match fell on a FIFA-sanctioned date.
"I can understand his point and I think also it's a good chance for him to (try to secure a contract) for the period after the finals (and before the World Cup)," Littbarski said.
"I think he can still handle the situation but it's not perfect."
It will be the fourth time this season Yorke has returned from international duty within 48 hours of an A-League game - with Sydney losing two and drawing one of the three previous fixtures.
In September, Littbarski upset Yorke by starting him on the bench for the round three clash with Newcastle. Yorke entered the game at halftime before sending his boss a clear message with a late goal in the disappointing 2-1 loss.
He started Sydney's dismal 5-0 loss to Melbourne in October after a pair of World Cup qualifiers.
And then cut short celebrations after guiding Trinidad to its first-ever World Cup finals in November, returning to Sydney following the playoff victory over Bahrain to come off the bench in the 0-0 draw with Perth.
Sydney striker Sasho Petrovski had little doubt Yorke would be fully fit for the grand final at Aussie Stadium.
"He gets to fly first class, I wouldn't be fatigued if I was flying first class," Petrovski said.
"He'll be very relaxed, he's done it all his life, he's a good traveller, I'm sure he'll look after himself.
"He's got a big game to play here. A big role and he'll be hoping to finish the season on a good note."
Football Federation Australia said all tickets for the decider had been sold, with a capacity 42,000 expected at Aussie Stadium.
Dwight Yorke will stay fit for the World Cup by training with former club Manchester United. The Trinidad & Tobago midfielder has been in talks with clubs from Japan, Romania and England, but is now set to stay match-fit by training with his former Old Trafford teammates. Former United striker Yorke, 34, said: "I'm grateful to Alex Ferguson. He knows how much the World Cup means to me." Yorke's season at Sydney ends after this weekend's grand final against Central Coast Mariners.

By Simon Baskett.

MADRID, (Reuters) - Florentino Perez resigned as Real Madrid president on Monday, a day after his side lost 2-1 to struggling Real Mallorca and with his club facing the prospect of a third successive season without a major trophy.
"I decided to call an urgent board meeting today because I believe that the club needs a change of direction and as a result I have decided to resign as president of Real Madrid.
"Something has been going wrong and everyone could see that in yesterday's match against Mallorca. That's when I made up my mind to leave.
"I hope this decision will help us change direction and I believe that we still have a chance of achieving something in the European Cup this season. At the very least I hope it will enable us to plan properly for next season."
The 58-year-old construction magnate said that director Fernando Martin, a leading property speculator, had been the unanimous choice of the board to take over in his place.
Perez was elected president by club members in 2000 and returned once again in a landslide victory in July 2004.
He was responsible for ridding the club of its massive 270 million euros ($319.8 million) of debt by selling it's city-centre training ground for a reported 480 million euros soon after he came to power.

GALACTICO POLICY
However he will be best remembered for his "Galacticos" policy which brought in a string of world-class players, such as Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham and helped make Real the most glamorous football club in the world.
The policy also acted as the springboard which allowed Real to become a global leader in the marketing stakes and overtake Manchester United as the richest football club in the world.
On the sporting side Perez met with early success, with the club winning the Champions League in 2002 and the league title in 2001 and 2003.
But the team's fortunes suffered a decisive downturn after Perez decided to discard Vicente del Bosque as coach the day after they won the league title and shortly after England captain David Beckham was signed.
Real have got through five coaches since then, but have not managed to win any major silverware.
If they fail to win anything this season it will be the first time in 52 years that they have gone three consecutive seasons without winning a significant trophy.
Real were knocked out of the King's Cup by Real Zaragoza earlier this month after suffering a humiliating 6-1 defeat in the first leg and have an uphill task to make the quarter-finals of the Champions League after losing 1-0 at home to Arsenal.

RIFTS IN SQUAD
Sunday's league defeat at Mallorca left them 10 points behind arch-rivals Barcelona with 13 games left to play.
Perez made it clear that his decision to quit was not only down to poor results, but also due to the attitude of the players and the rifts that were emerging in the squad.
"I think we have played some spectacular football in these years, but maybe some of the players may have begun to get confused and I may have contributed to that confusion.
"The club needs a profound renewal and I think that someone else will be a more appropriate figure to oversee that process."
Perez said he was in agreement with defender Sergio Ramos's comments about the lack of team spirit at the club after the 19-year-old complained about his team mates' lukewarm celebration when he scored the opening goal against Mallorca.
"Sergio Ramos was right in what he said and I would like to see our players celebrate goals in the same way that Mallorca celebrated their goals," said Perez.
Ramos's remarks came less than a week after Real Madrid captain Raul publicly reprimanded Brazilian striker Ronaldo for his criticisms of the club's fans on the eve of their Champions League match against Arsenal.

MADRID (AFP) - Racism again reared its ugly head in Spanish football as Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o suffered sustained abuse at Real Zaragoza.
The three-time African Footballer of the Year and the Spanish first division's leading scorer decided that he had had enough and tried to leave the field 14 minutes before the end.
Eto'o was persuaded to continue by his team mates, principally Ronaldinho, and Real Zaragoza's Ewerthon, who are both black Brazilians, but it left a nasty taste despite Barca's 2-0 win which kept them on top of the Spanish first division.
"It was a shame. Samuel is a human being and he felt bad on the pitch, but I was pleased with the attitude of his team mates who told him to continue," said Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard Saturday.
"He proved he was able to overcome the circumstances and he made a valuable contribution to our victory. It's sad that things like this happen as it is thanks to players like Samuel that the fans come to the stadium to be entertained.
"I would also like to say that the referee behaved very well," added Rijkaard, paying tribute to referee Victor Esquinas Torres.
Esquinas Torres stopped the game in the second half, before Eto'o made his protest, to ask for an announcement over the public address system to call a halt to the abuse.
"Every time he touched the ball there were the chants," confirmed Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
Players from both sides were quick to condemn the abuse, and support Eto'o.
"It's perfectly normal that he was angry with a situation like that. These sort of things are very offensive, had he actually left the field then we would have followed him," said Barcelona's Mexican international Rafa Marquez.
"It's lamentable that these things happen in football and it's not the first time that this happens on this ground.
"Samuel said he didn't want to continue but we wanted to convince him that he should not let them (the racists) get to him," added Barcelona club captain Carles Puyol.
"It was a bit of moral justice that soon after everything happened, we got the goals," said Puyol, reflecting on the fact that both of Barca's goals came in the last 10 minutes.
Home players were equally incensed at the behaviour of their own supporters.
"I'm black too. I'm a Zaragoza player and totally opposed to the fans who did this. I've been abused too at other grounds in Spain but we need to rise above this," said Zaragoza striker Ewerthon.
"The Spanish federation have to start taking proper measures and we as black players also have to act. We are here to work and if things carry on like this it will be impossible," added the Brazilian.
It is not the first time that Eto'o has been the butt of racist behaviour by Zaragoza fans, although he has also been abused at a number of other Spanish first division grounds and the problem is far from isolated.
Zaragoza were fined a paltry 600 euros by the Spanish football federation last season after a section of their fans directed similar monkey noises and grunts at Eto'o.
Racist behaviour by Spanish crowds has been a problem for many years but it came under the spotlight when the England national team visited Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium in November 2004 for a friendly match against Spain.
England's black players, including Chelsea's Shaun Wright-Phillips and Arsenal's Ashley Cole, were the targets of racists which television pictures showed covered all age groups and backgrounds, not just the stereotypical young hooligan.
Barcelona football club hosted a UEFA anti-racism conference earlier this month but Spanish football federation president Angel Maria Villar didn't do much to create an impression that his organisation was taking racism seriously.
"Why blow it all up, why make a mountain out of a molehill?" said Villar, leaving delegates in stunned silence and drawing comdemnation around the world for his complacency.

PARIS, (Reuters) - France will go to Germany believing they can win the World Cup and with a team good enough to do so, a defiant Zinedine Zidane told sports daily L'Equipe on Monday.
"The World Cup is not an important objective, it's the greatest objective. We'll go to Germany to win the World Cup," the French playmaker said in an interview published as France were assembling before Wednesday's friendly against Slovakia.
"We are not going to play a World Cup just for the pleasure of taking part. I don't know if we'll win it but we can make it, I'd stake my life on it," he added.
"I'm 33, I'll be 34 in Germany. When one has won the World Cup and lost it four years later, winning it back is an magnificent and imperious obligation."
Zidane, who will play his 99th match for France on Wednesday, said he was confident les Bleus "now have a beautiful team made of good players."
"If we are at 150 percent on D-Day, I don't see which country could trouble us apart from Brazil, obviously, because they are the only fearsome team as they have always been."
The Real Madrid midfielder, who shelved his international career after the 2004 European championship but returned to held France qualify for the 2006 World Cup, said he was back to form after struggling at the start of the season.
"I have been going well for several weeks. The first six months of the season were difficult because I was injured and Real had bad results," he said.
"The form of a player often depends on his team results. Now, we are doing better in term of results and quality of play."

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - Ronaldinho will miss Brazil's World Cup warm-up against Russia in Moscow on Wednesday after picking up an injury in Barcelona's Champions League win against Chelsea last week.
The World Footballer of the Year left Stamford Bridge with a swollen left ankle but was still considered fit enough to turn out for Barcelona against Real Zaragoza on Saturday.
But after scoring a penalty in the 2-0 win the injury flared up again forcing Ronaldinho to leave the pitch before the final whistle.
Ronaldinho joins AC Milan keeper Dida and Julio Cesar (Inter Milan) on the sidelines for Wednesday's game at Lokomotiv Moscow's ground.
Brazil face Croatia, Australia and Japan in the group stages of the World Cup which gets under way in Germany on June 9.

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ABIDJAN (AFP) - The Ivory Coast may not go to the World Cup finals in June if there is still no peace in the war-torn country, the president of the Ivorian Football Federation warned.
Jacques Anouma said that he had hoped the success of the football team by qualifying for their first ever World Cup finals and reaching the African Nations Cup final earlier this month would bring the north and the south of the country together.
The country has effectively been split in two since 2002 with rebels holding the north and the government the south, though, there have been moments when the success of the 'Elephants' has apparently brought some calm to the situation."We hoped that each victory for the Elephants would bring the Ivorians back together for good," said Anouma.
"Unfortunately we see nothing of the kind on the horizon.
"We ask all the protagonists to put down their arms and talk peace, what cause does it serve to go to the World Cup without peace in our country. Without peace there is no glory.
"The Ivory Coast team - who lost on penalties to Egypt in the African Nations Cup final - see themselves as a unifying force and after qualifying for the World Cup finals last year their first act was to be led in a prayer of peace by captain Didier Drogba.
"Ivorians we beg your forgiveness. Let us come together and put this war behind us," was the prayer of peace led by a kneeling Drogba in the dressing room following the victory over Sudan that confirmed their place in the World Cup finals.

By Andrew Sleight.

LONDON, (Reuters) - When Dwight Yorke leads Trinidad & Tobago out for their first game at the World Cup finals in June, the former Manchester United striker will regard it as his finest moment.
The 34-year-old is relishing captaining the Soca Warriors at the finals in Germany, and rates the prospect more satisfying than his 1999 European Cup final triumph in United's treble-winning season.
"This will be the icing on the cake for me, when I lead out my country for the opening game against Sweden," Yorke told reporters on Monday. Trindad play Iceland in a World-Cup warm-up friendly in London on Tuesday.
"When I won the treble at Manchester United it was a special moment and something I'll always cherish. However, at 34, when your going into the twilight of your career, to play in a World Cup is something I'm very excited about."
Yorke, currently playing for Australian side Sydney, recently trained with United and said he may keep fit with Alex Ferguson's side when the Australian season ends next week. Yorke, who also had spells in the Premier League with Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City, could also link up with an English club again before the start of the World Cup.
"The fact the Australian season finishes this weekend means that I'll be without a club for two-and-a-half months," said the player who came out of international retirement to captain his country to the finals.
"I have the option to train with Manchester United, but I need games as well.
"I still have another year with Sydney so it is something that I will be discussing with my manager. We will be looking at every possibility."
Trinidad are the smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup finals and have been drawn with the Swedes, England and Paraguay.
"I don't need to tell the other players what this is all about," added Yorke, stressing that the Caribbean country would not just make up the numbers.
"We are not turning up to be the whipping boys of the tournament. We are there to make sure that teams take us seriously."
Trinidad play England on June 15, a fixture that has excited the whole squad.
"The coach says that it is just 11 versus 11 and we will be fully prepared for the game.
"I'm sure there is a lot of extra incentive for the players who play in the lower divisions here in England.
"They might not have had the opportunity to come up against Steven Gerrard or David Beckham. I've been fortunate because I have and, as leader of the team I can tell you that we will cherish the experience for the rest of our lives."

By Mike Collett.

LONDON, (Reuters) - While no-one at Manchester United is claiming that Sunday's League Cup final victory is the greatest achievement in the club's history, skipper Gary Neville believes it is an important step on the road to more significant success in the future.
Knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages, eliminated from the FA Cup by Liverpool, and trailing Chelsea by 15 points in the race for the Premier League title, the League Cup was the only trophy left for United to win this season.
After missing out on a prize last year when they were beaten on penalties by Arsenal in the FA Cup final, failure to win on Sunday would have meant United going without a trophy for two successive seasons for first time since the late 1980s.
But their emphatic 4-0 victory over Wigan Athletic was well-deserved and Neville, among others, was delighted.
"The way some people have gone on you would think this club has not won anything for 10 years let alone 18 months," said Neville.
"There are a lot of young players in this team who have enormous potential and I believe the squad will be strengthened even further in the summer.
"I believe this can be the start of a new era of success for Manchester United. We have been badly hit by injuries this season and have lost the likes of Paul Scholes and Alan Smith from the midfield as well as Roy Keane leaving the club.
"But a win like this gives the younger players in the team the taste for success and once you have that you want more and more of it."

GLITTERING SUCCESSES
Neville's thoughts were echoed by Ryan Giggs, who, like Neville, has been part of most of United's glittering successes under coach Alex Ferguson over the last decade and a half. "You want to win every competition you enter and this was a Cup final and we are delighted to win it," said the Welshman. "We might have had our disappointments this season but when you win a final you have to enjoy the moment and be positive about the future.
"There are a lot of players at other clubs who would love to be standing here now saying they have just won an honour.
"There is a great future at this club and for the younger players in the side, this is a very important and significant part of their careers and their development."
Sunday's success was 31st major trophy United have won in their history and the 17th under Ferguson since he became manager in 1986.
It was also the first piece of silverware added to the United trophy room since the club was taken over by the American Glazer family.
Ferguson laughed off suggestions that he was facing the sack if United did not win on Sunday but he looked delighted at the end of the game which ended in the most one-sided victory in the final since it switched to a single-game format in 1967.
United commanded the match from the first whistle to the last and won with two goals from Wayne Rooney and one each from Louis Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Wigan were restricted to long-range shots for most of the match and were largely out-played in their first major final.
Still, just reaching Cardiff was a significant achievement for manager Paul Jewell and his side in their first season in the top flight in England.
"Last season we got knocked out by Grimsby in the third round," he said. "That puts it into perspective."

(Reuters) - England squad named on Saturday for next Wednesday's friendly against Uruguay at Liverpool:

Goalkeepers: David James (Manchester City), Robert Green (Norwich City), Paul Robinson (Tottenham Hotspur)

Defenders: Luke Young (Charlton Athletic), John Terry (Chelsea), Wayne Bridge (Fulham), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville (all Manchester United), Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur)

Midfielders: Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Shaun Wright-Phillips (all Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Kieran Richardson (Manchester United), David Beckham (Real Madrid), Michael Carrick, Jermaine Jenas (both Tottenham Hotspur)

Forwards: Darren Bent (Charlton Athletic), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur).

Paraguay squad for World Cup warm-up against Wales.

ASUNCION, (Reuters) - Veteran striker Jose Cardozo has been included in Paraguay's squad for a World Cup warm-up friendly against Wales next week despite nursing a left knee injury.
Coach Anibal Ruiz picked a 20-strong squad for the match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Wednesday but had to withdraw injured captain and centre back Carlos Gamarra.
Paraguay are in Group B with England, Sweden and Trinidad & Tobago at the World Cup in Germany starting on June 9.

Goalkeepers: Derlis Gomez (Sportivo Luqueno), Justo Villar (Newell's Old Boys)

Defenders: Denis Caniza (Cruz Azul), Julio Cesar Caceres (River Plate), Delio Toledo (Real Zaragoza), Paulo Da Silva (Toluca), Julio Manzur (Santos), Juan Daniel Caceres, Jorge Nunez (both Estudiantes de La Plata)

Midfielders: Edgar Barreto (NEC Nijmegen), Roberto Acuna (Deportivo Coruna), Carlos Humberto Paredes (Reggina), Julio Dos Santos (Bayern Munich), Cristian Riveros (Libertad), Diego Gavilan (Newell's Old Boys), Walter Fretes (Cerro Porteno)

Forwards: Salvador Cabanas (Jaguares de Chiapas), Cesar Ramirez (Flamengo), Nelson Haedo (Werder Bremen), Jose Cardozo (San Lorenzo).

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MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o threatened to leave the field in the 77th minute after being racially taunted by the crowd, but was persuaded to remain by Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard and finish off the club's 2-0 victory at Zaragoza on Saturday.
The three-time African player of the year could be seen saying "No more," and initially rebuffed pleas from teammates to remain. Eto'o also was taunted by Zaragoza supporters at La Romareda stadium a year ago, when the striker responded by mimicking a monkey.
Saturday's incident likely will intensify recent calls for soccer authorities to impose harsher sanctions against clubs whose fans racially taunt opposing teams' players.
Barcelona's victory in Rijkaard's 100th league game at the helm of the club gave it 58 points and extended its lead in the standings to nine points.

LONDON (AP) -- Arsenal lost 1-0 at Blackburn on Saturday to slip to sixth in the English Premier League, hurting its chances of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
Arsenal lost on the road for the eighth time in 14 domestic games, four days after winning 1-0 at Real Madrid 1-0 in the Champions League -- its fourth European road win this season.
"I'm very sad because I don't think we deserved to lose this game," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "We lacked a little bit mental sharpness maybe because of Tuesday night but overall we gave absolutely everything physically until the last second of the game."
Blackburn swapped places with Arsenal in the standings, jumping a place to fifth. Arsenal needs to finish fourth or higher to qualify for the Champions League next season -- unless it wins this season's edition.
Blackburn, which got an 18th-minute goal by Morten Gamst Pedersen, has 43 points in the standings -- three fewer than fourth-place Tottenham and two more than Arsenal.
Chelsea beat Portsmouth 2-0 to extend its lead at the top of the English Premier League to 15 points. Birmingham beat relegation rival Sunderland 1-0, Aston Villa tied 0-0 at Charlton and Newcastle topped Everton 2-0.

BERLIN (AP) -- Michael Ballack scored twice to help Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-2.
The Germany captain ran his total to nine goals in eight games by sidefooting in a goal in the 33rd minute and adding a header in the 62nd. It was Bayern's 11th win in 11 Bundesliga games at its new Allianz Arena stadium.
Paulo Guerrero scored in the 21st and 42nd minutes and Claudio Pizarro added another Bayern goal in the 85th.
Werder Bremen moved into second, nine behind Bayern, with a 2-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach. Miroslav Klose returned from a monthlong shoulder injury to score his 17th goal in 18 games. Ivan Klasnic scored the other.
Schalke won 2-0 against Nuremberg with goals from Kevin Kuranyi and Lincoln. Juan Mensequez's 23-yard volley gave Wolfsburg a 2-1 win over Hannover 96.

ROME (AP) -- Fiorentina overcame an early two-goal deficit and rallied for a 4-2 victory at Parma Saturday to reclaim fourth place in the Serie A.
Trailing 2-0 by the 19th minute, Valeri Bojinov scored twice in four minutes to equalize before halftime. Second-half tallies by Martin Jorgensen and newly acquired Luis Jimenez earned the Florentine side its first win on the road in three months and ended a two-game league losing streak.
Fiorentina climbed to 53 points, two ahead of AS Roma which can move back into fourth place by beating city rival Lazio in the Roman Derby Sunday. Roma is seeking an Italian league record 11th straight win. Parma remained four points from relegation.
Also on Sunday, leader Juventus hosts Lecce, second-place AC Milan is at Palermo and third-place Inter Milan faces on Udinese at San Siro.
In the other game Saturday, Livorno drew 1-1 at Reggina to stretch its unbeaten streak to five matches.

PARIS (AP) -- Rennes handed French league leader Lyon only its second loss of the season Saturday, using three goals by Nigerian forward John Utaka to win 4-1 and enable Bordeaux to close within six points.
Second-place Bordeaux rallied on Alejandro Alonso's 70th-minute header to draw 3-3 with Metz.
Lyon, seeking a record fifth straight title, has led Ligue 1 since the fourth round and suffered its only other loss on Dec. 16, 3-1 to Lille. Both losses came at home.
Metz is unbeaten in 10 matches, having not loss since a Dec. 10 defeat at Le Mans.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) -- Gretna became the first second-division side to reach the Scottish Cup semifinals since 1982 with a 1-0 win over St. Mirren.
Hibernian and Hearts also reached the final four. Hamilton and Dundee will need a replay to determine the last semifinal spot after a 0-0 tie.
The last second-division club to reach the Scottish Cup semifinals was Forfar in 1982. Gretna joined the Scottish league only in 2002. The town is just inside the Scottish border but had been playing in England leagues the previous 55 years.
Hibernian beat Falkirk 5-1 and Hearts defeated Partick Thistle 2-1. In the only Premier League game, Dunfermline and Dundee United tied 1-1.

By Trevor Huggins.

LONDON, (Reuters) - Frank Lampard steered Chelsea to a 2-0 win over Portsmouth while Arsenal's Champions League hopes for next season suffered a body blow with a 1-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
England midfielder Lampard slotted home the breakthrough goal for the champions at Stamford Bridge after 65 minutes and Dutch winger Arjen Robben made sure of the points with their second in the 78th.
The laboured victory on a heavy pitch, just three days after their Champions League loss there to Barcelona, extended Chelsea's lead at the top over Manchester United to 15 points.
Arsenal, who beat Real Madrid 1-0 away on Tuesday, failed to close the five-point gap on north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the race for next season's Champions League after Norway's Morten Gamst Pedersen got the only goal at Ewood Park.
Birmingham City beat Sunderland 1-0 in their relegation scrap with an Emile Heskey goal and Charlton Athletic were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Aston Villa.
Chelsea looked jaded after their 2-1 defeat with 10 men by Barcelona and took their time warming up against Harry Redknapp's side, who now look firm candidates for the drop.
Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba lined up the precious opener for Lampard, with the England midfielder making up for what had been a disappointing performance with a fine finish.
Robben did the same after being set up by a superb ball over the top of Portsmouth's defence by Icelandic striker-cum-midfielder Eidur Gudjohnsen.
"The game in midweek was draining physically and draining mentally," said Chelsea's assistant manager Steve Clarke.
"It was always going to be difficult...especially after playing 60 minutes with only 10 men.
"We looked at the stats and saw that some players ran two km more than they would normally do."

GREAT POSITION
As for the final stages of the season, Clarke said: "We're in a great position to be champions again but it's going to take a lot of hard work and hopefully some quality football to get there."
The win lifts Chelsea to 69 points, well clear of Manchester United (54), who face Wigan Athletic in Sunday's League Cup final in Cardiff. Third-placed Liverpool, on 51, play Manchester City amidst Sunday's league games.
The big losers on Saturday were clearly Arsenal, who suffered their eighth away league loss of the season and squandered their game in hand on Tottenham in the race to finish fourth.
Spurs hold that slot with 46 points, while Blackburn's victory means they leapfrog Arsenal into fifth place on 43, leaving Arsene Wenger's side sixth on 41 and under threat by West Ham United, who also have 41 and a game in hand.
"I'm very sad because I don't think we deserved to lose this game...we were always on top but just couldn't score," Wenger told Sky Sports News after their 10th league defeat of the season.
"We gave absolutely everything, but we lacked a little bit of mental sharpness maybe because of Tuesday night...We were really unfortunate not to get something out of the game."
Premier League action was continuing with Saturday's late kickoff between Newcastle United and Everton.

By Jeremy Butler.

WIGAN, England, (Reuters) - When Wimbledon completed the fairytale of rising from non-league football to win the FA Cup by beating the all-conquering Liverpool in 1988, experts of the game said their feat could never be repeated.
They believed the huge amounts of money involved at the top end of the English game would preclude another club from climbing through the divisions and gaining a foothold in the Premier League as those brave Dons had done.
But on Sunday, 18 years on, Wigan will prove the impossible dream can still become reality when they walk out at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to face Manchester United in the League Cup final.
Paul Jewell's side only achieved league status in 1978, replacing Southport, yet they have rarely been out of the top six in their debut Premier League season.
Their fine start has also come despite being housed in the heartland of rugby league and having to compete for fans with the successful league outfit Wigan Warriors.
Dispelling the belief that Wigan is a rugby town has mainly been achieved by the millions invested in the club by local businessman Dave Whelan.
The sportswear magnet is a former ex-professional player, whose career came to an abrupt end when he broke his leg playing for Blackburn Rovers against Wolves in the 1960 FA Cup final.
He bought an ailing Wigan team in 1995 with money made from his JJB Sports chain and quickly turned the club around.
Whelan's first step was to build a new 25,000-seater stadium for the city's two sporting teams to share, with the football club happily leaving the ramshackle Springfield Park which had improved little since its inception in 1897.

GROUND HISTORY
The ground did have some history as the home of a Wigan side that excelled in beating league sides in the FA Cup.
Their 6-1 win over Carlisle in the 1934-35 season still stands as a joint record winning margin for a non-league side over Football League opposition.
They even held Newcastle to a draw at St James' Park in 1954 before losing the replay 3-2 in a campaign that saw a crowd of 27,526 watch them beat fellow non-league side Hereford.
Wigan enjoyed their first cup success in 1985, beating Brentford 3-1 to win the Freight Rover Trophy at Wembley, and a second trophy was added with victory over Millwall in the 1999 the AutoWindscreens Shield final.
By then Whelan's money was funding the Wigan dream, but when the treble-winning Manchester United arrived in August 1999 to open the JJB Stadium only fantasists would have predicted they would meet on level terms in the Premier League six years later.
Wigan struggled to get out of the second division despite reaching the play-offs for three consecutive seasons and the failure of respected managers Bruce Rioch and Steve Bruce saw the arrival of Jewell at the club in 2001.
Jewell's appointment was the catalyst for success - although he started badly with Wigan slumping to second bottom and suffering the humiliation of being knocked out of the FA Cup by non-league Canvey Island.
"The chairman told me I had 18 months to get things right and he wanted us to be in the top six by the following Christmas," Jewell told reporters as he prepared for Sunday's final.

OUTLASTING MANAGER
"But I was finding it hard with players at the club believing they could outlast me because of the number of managers that had been at the club in the recent past.
"The chairman asked if he could visit the changing room though and when I agreed he told the players I was not leaving. It was the turning point."
Wigan were promoted with 100 points in 2003 and enjoyed a run of 17 unbeaten games the following season only to miss out on the play-offs when Brian Deane equalised for West Ham with the last kick of the final game of the season.
Jewell was determined not to suffer the same fate last season and his side went on another 17-game unbeaten run on their way to promotion to the Premier League.
Their form has been simply remarkable for a squad still containing players signed in the second division and strengthened for a modest eight million pounds last year.
For the ambitious Whelan, a UEFA Cup place is on the agenda either through their Premier League finish or by beating United on Sunday.
Even if they fail to achieve that goal, though, Wigan would still be living proof that in today's world of footballing billions, dreams still can come true.

SYDNEY, (Reuters) - Japan made the perfect start to their Asian Cup defence with a 6-0 thrashing of India as their World Cup rivals Australia announced their arrival in the region with an ominous 3-1 win over Bahrain.
Australia came from behind to defeat Bahrain 3-1 in Manama on Wednesday in their first Asian Cup qualifier since resigning from the Oceania Football Confederation.
Archie Thompson, skipper Josep Skoko and striker Ahmad Elrich scored for the Socceroos, who had trailed to Husain Ali's 35th-minute goal in their Group D tie.
Australia, admitted to the Asian Football Confederation on Jan. 1, were without key players such as Liverpool's Harry Kewell and Middlesbrough's Mark Viduka but won comfortably in the end.
Ali fired Bahrain ahead when he turned in Mohamed Salmeen's cross before Thomspon equalised eight minutes after the break with a header.
Skoko gave Australia the lead with a powerful shot in the 79th minute and Elrich scored from the penalty spot four minutes from time after being fouled by Abdulla Marzooq, who was sent off.
China, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran also recorded impressive wins as the long road to next year's Asian Cup finals kicked off with Wednesday's opening round of qualifiers.
China beat Palestine 2-0, South Korea survived a tricky opening encounter in Syria to win 2-1, Saudia Arabia defeated Yemen 4-0 and Iran outclassed Taiwan 4-0.
Japan, who won the last Asian Cup in 2004 and were one of four Asian teams to qualify for this year's World Cup in Germany, fired in five second-half goals to overwhelm Indian in a Group A match in Yokohama.
Striker Tatsuhiko Kubo completed a late double as the Indian defence crumbled. Playmaker Shinji Ono pounced on a defensive error to score the only goal of the first half.
"It's always important to score the first goal but it took the team some time to find any rhythm," Ono told reporters. "We played a lot better in the second half and we got the start we wanted."
Australia, who are drawn in the same pool as Japan at the World Cup, could not have hoped for a better start in their first match in Asia after ditching Oceania.

STRONGEST TEAMS
Despite fielding a second-string side and playing away from home against one of the strongest teams in Asia, the Australians came from behind to win comfortably.
Archie Thompson, stand-in skipper Josep Skoko and striker Ahmad Elrich scored for the Socceroos, who had trailed to Husain Ali's 35th-minute goal in the Group D game.
"Everyone was nervous in the first half, because not only was it our first game in the Asian Cup, but World Cup places were up for grabs," Thompson said in a statement released by Football Federation Australia.
"Our second-half performance though, proved we are a good side and that we have the players that can compete at this level."
Kim Do-heon and Lee Chun-soo scored either of the break to give 2002 World Cup semi-finalists South Korea a narrow Group B win over Syria after Al Khatib had equalised early in the second term.
Mehrzad Madanchi scored twice in Iran's Group B win over Taiwan in Tehran while Ahmed Al Sawailh and Mohammed Shihoub each netted twice in Saudi Arabia's Group A victory over Yemen.
China, who failed to qualify for the World Cup, rebounded from last week's 1-0 loss to Honduras to beat Palestine 2-0 with goals from defender Du Wei and captain Li Weifeng.
In Wednesday's other qualifiers, Uzbekistan overwhelmed Bangladesh 5-0, Jordan crushed Pakistan 3-0, Qatar beat Hong Kong 3-0, Singapore overcame Iraq 2-0, United Arab Emirates edged Oman 1-0 and Lebanon drew 1-1 with Kuwait.
The top two teams from each of the six groups qualify for the 2007 Asian Cup, to be jointly hosted by Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. The four host nations qualify automatically.

By Mike Collett.

LONDON, (Reuters) - Barcelona took a huge step towards the Champions League quarter-finals with a 2-1 win against a Chelsea side playing with only 10 men for most of Wednesday's first leg match at Stamford Bridge.
African player of the year Samuel Eto'o headed the winner in the 80th minute and only brave defending by Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Cech and captain John Terry stopped Barcelona scoring three or even four goals in the dying minutes.
Barca, beaten by Chelsea at the same first knockout round stage last season, enjoyed most of the possession even before Spanish left back Asier Del Horno was sent off in the 37th minute for a late challenge on Argentine teenager Lionel Messi.
Chelsea showed more aggression despite their numerical disadvantage in the second half and were rewarded when tumbling midfielder Thiago Motta knocked the ball into his own net from a Frank Lampard free kick in the 59th minute.
But another own goal levelled the scores in the 71st when Terry headed into his own net from a Ronaldinho free kick before Eto'o popped up to score Barca's 300th goal in Europe's elite club competition as he climbed high to clinch the victory.
It was Chelsea's first home defeat in open play in any match for two years and they now face an uphill task of reaching the last eight when they visit the Nou Camp on March 7.

RED CARD
The match was played at a breath-taking tempo throughout with players from both sides displaying the highest technical ability on the difficult surface.
However, the most dramatic moment of the first half came after 37 minutes when Del Horno clattered into Messi by the Chelsea goal-line.
After a fracas involving a dozen players Norwegian referee Terje Hauge showed the Chelsea fullback an automatic red card to the disgust of the home fans and bemused manager Jose Mourinho, who said it was unwarranted and ruined the game.
There was no doubt Del Horno played the man and not the ball but TV replays suggested he tried to evade the Argentine who took full advantage of the situation with a number of theatrical rolls on the ground after he fell.
"The kid (Messi) is not just a very good football player, he jumps, he provokes the contact with Del Horno and because of that the referee gives a red card. He rolls and rolls and rolls, it wasn't a red card, of course not," Mourinho told Sky TV.
"The game is then completely different. Before the red card it was a pure game, 11 against 11, two good teams tactically thinking a lot about the game, not many mistakes, not many chances but an open game.
"There is no point talking about the game after that. I will say I was very proud of my players and in the circumstances they played with a lot of heart."

COLE SACRIFICED
Mourinho, a master of tactical substitutions immediately re-jigged his side, bringing on Geremi to shore up the left-hand side and sacrificing the creativity of Joe Cole in midfield.
Barca now had numerical superiority on the mud heap of a pitch and, after a brief Chelsea assault at the start of the second half, dominated the play with Ronaldinho at the heart of all their attacks and Deco an inspiration in midfield.
Ronaldinho's free kick not only led to their opening goal but his powerful surge through the mud despite tiring legs 10 minutes from time set up substitute Henrik Larsson.
Larsson, in acres of space with a depleted home defence stretched to breaking point, played the ball back to Rafael Marquez whose whipped cross was headed home by Eto'o.
The goal gave Barcelona victory on the night and control of the tie ahead of next month's return leg in Spain.
"Now the point is what we are going to do to Barcelona?" said Mourinho. "Do we face up to a very difficult situation now or do we go for a nice trip to a beautiful place?"

Rijkaard eager to finish the job at the Nou Camp.
By Clare Lovell.

LONDON, (Reuters) - Barcelona earned a 2-1 victory over Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday despite failing to play their best and now have a good chance to go home and finish the job, coach Frank Rijkaard said on Wednesday.
The Dutchman refused to be drawn into the controversy over the 37th minute dismissal of Chelsea's Spanish full back Asier Del Horno, which his opposite number Jose Mourinho suggested was down to playacting by young Argentine Lionel Messi.
"I don't think we put in our best performance but we dealt with the great danger of Chelsea and they're a great team," Rijkaard said.
"It's an important result for us and it was a special game because it was very tense but the important thing is that we were focused as a team and concentrated against a strong opponent."
Asked about Del Horno's sending off after the Spaniard clattered into Messi by the corner flag, Rijkaard said he saw two fouls in succession on the 18-year-old Argentine but preferred not to trespass on the referee's territory.
"It was his decision. I prefer not to talk about it," Rijkaard said. "Messi gets tackled a lot because of the sort player he is."
Chelsea beat Barcelona 5-4 on aggregate last season at the same first knockout round stage of the competition after Barcelona won 2-1 at home in the first leg.
That night Chelsea also finished with 10 men after Didier Drogba was sent off.

FIRST STEP
"This is a first step. Now we have to try to finish the job at the Camp Nou," Rijkaard said.
Mourinho said playing with 10 against 11 was hard enough against a minor team but against a good team and for half the match it had been energy sapping.
"It's difficult to close the door all the time. Sometimes the door has to open."
He added that he was nevertheless proud of his players and the supporters and came away from the game feeling positive.
It was English champions Chelsea who got on the scoresheet first thanks to an own goal by Thiago Motta in the 59th minute.
That was answered by another own goal this time from Chelsea captain John Terry 12 minutes later before Samuel Eto'o scored the telling second away goal 10 minutes from time.
"What changed everything was not a goal it was playing 10 against 11 when we shouldn't have been," Mourinho said.
He noted that Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien was banned for both Barca legs on video evidence after a bad tackle in a Champions League group match against Liverpool and suggested Del Horno's red card might be rescinded in the same way.
"Can we get Messi suspended for theatricals?" he asked.
"lt's a very cultural city Barcelona, you know all about acting," he said but added that nothing would change the result.

Chelsea players blame referee in red card incident.
By Rex Gowar.

LONDON, (Reuters) - Chelsea's players were angry at having to play Barcelona with only 10 men because of what they saw as an error by the referee in sending off Asier del Horno during their 2-1 Champions League defeat on Wednesday.
Full back Del Horno was shown a straight red by Norway's Terje Hauge for dangerous play in an incident involving Barca teenager Lionel Messi near the corner flag five minutes before halftime in the first knockout round tie at Stamford Bridge.
"I can't say strongly enough that when you have a big match like this you need a referee who is up to it," said Chelsea midfielder Eidur Gudjohnsen.
"It was too big of a decision in a game like this... Too much of the game was overshadowed by a refereeing incident.
"We would like to have a game (with Barcelona) when we have 11 players," he added, referring to the tie between the same rivals last season when they had striker Didier Drogba sent off in the first leg at the Nou Camp stadium.
Chelsea fought back then from a similar 2-1 deficit to win 4-2 at home and go through 5-4 on aggregate but they are well aware of the task facing them in the second leg on March 7.

DIFFICULT
Gudjohnsen and Argentine striker Hernan Crespo said it was tough enough playing a team of Barcelona's calibre with a full side without having to withstand them a man short.
But Gudjohnsen recalled that Chelsea won at London rivals Arsenal two seasons ago to triumph in the quarter-finals.
"It will be difficult but we did it at Arsenal two years ago so there's no reason why we can't do it again," he said.
Crespo added he did not have a close view of the incident but thought the referee might not have had any choice.
Messi leapt out of the way of an attempted tackle by Arjen Robben only to be clattered by Del Horno who caught him on the shins. Chelsea claim that Argentine international Messi then feigned injury and contributed to getting the Spaniard sent off.
"(Del Horno) didn't touch him from what I saw but maybe the referee couldn't overlook the move," said Crespo. "Inside, I get the feeling that it was a sending off although I think it was less serious than it looked."
Del Horno had been lucky earlier in the first half not to be booked for a studs-up lunge at 18-year-old Messi, who said: "That one hurt more than the other one for the sending off."

Red card blinds Mourinho to Messi magic.

Jose Mourinho has branded Lionel Messi a master of the dramatic arts after the Argentinian teenager claimed centre-stage in the latest chapter in Chelsea and Barcelona's bitter Champions League rivalry.
Messi, whose diminutive stature and intuitive application of outstanding technique have invited comparisons with his compatriot Diego Maradona, was the inspiration behind a 2-1 first leg win that makes the Catalan club strong favourites to advance to the last eight.
But Chelsea manager Mourinho insisted that the 18-year-old's most significant contribution had been to get Asier del Horno sent off ten minutes from the end of the first half by over-reacting to the Chelsea left-back's crude body check.
Having insisted he would say nothing about the incident for fear of falling foul of UEFA's disciplinary chiefs, the Portuguese manager proceeded to deliver an extended rant on the subject, concluding with the observation that Barcelona was a very cultural city.
"You know all about theatre and you have got theatre of very high quality in Barcelona," he said.
Mourinho claimed that del Horno's dismissal had turned the game in Barca's favour, with the visitors sealing victory through Samuel Eto'o's late header after a Thiago Motta own goal, which had given Chelsea the lead, was cancelled out by John Terry doing the same thing at the other end.
"When you play 10 or 15 minutes with ten men it is easier to play with a lot of energy. But when you play like that for 50 minutes or an hour it is difficult to close the door all the time," Mourinho said. "Sometime the door has to open -- that is the reality.
"With 11 against 11 we beat them last season. With 11 against 11 this game was open. With 11 against 11 we were winning 1-0 in Barcelona last season. But ten against 11 -- it is difficult."
A slightly less biased observer than Mourinho could reasonably point out that Chelsea, while they had not conceded a goal, were chasing the game long before the dismissal of del Horno.
"It was an important result for us in what was a special game," said the Barcelona coach, Frank Rijkaard.
"I don't think we put in our best performance, perhaps that was down to the (very poor) pitch or the way Chelsea played. But we created enough chances to win the match and it is a good first step on road to qualification for the next round.
"We showed a lot of maturity in the game although we could have played better as a team. It was not the most attractive performance of the season, but the main thing is we were focused and concentrated really well."
"We can't rest on our laurels though. Chelsea are too big a team for that. They will go into the second leg really psyched up and we have to show a lot of commitment and desire to get this job done."
Rijkaard would not be drawn into a debate with Mourinho on whether Norwegian referee Terje Hauge had made the right call on the del Horno red card.
"I think you have to accept the opinion of the referee who made the decision," the Dutchman said, before adding a riposte to Mourinho's slur on Messi's character.
"Messi is the kind of player who is fouled a lot but he is not the sort to over-react," he said.
It was clear from the start of the match that del Horno was in for a tortuous evening courtesy of the little Argentinian's dancing feet.
Skipping beyond his marker at will, it was Messi who unleashed Barca's first strike on goal, a low effort which Peter Cech needed two attempts to gather.
Another surge into the box teed up Ronaldinho, who uncharacteristically hesitated when presented with a sight of goal.
Ironically Chelsea looked more positive having been reduced to ten men and they took the lead just before the hour mark after Arjen Robben won a free-kick near the left touchline.
Whipped in by Lampard, the ball appeared destined for the arms of Valdes before Motta cut across the goalkeeper and deflected it in.
Barcelona's equaliser came from a free-kick in a virtually identical position, Ronaldinho's delivery skimming off Terry's head and into the top corner of the net.
The Chelsea captain was to make amends for that misfortune by twice clearing off the line as Barcelona piled on the pressure, denying substitute Henrik Larsson and Ronaldinho in quick succession.
The woodwork also came to the London club's rescue, Messi's sublime chip rebounding off the angle of post and bar with Cech well-beaten.
But Barca were not to be denied victory. After a Chelsea counter had broken down, a Ronaldinho surge out of his own half left their back line hopelessly exposed and Eto'o was unchallenged as he rose to nod in Rafael Marquez's chip.

By Chris Cowles.

HARTFORD, Connecticut, (Reuters) - United States coach Bruce Arena has been able to call upon his contingent of European-based players for the friendly international against Poland in Germany on March 1.
"With only one international fixture date prior to the World Cup this is an important opportunity for our players based in Europe to demonstrate their form and fitness," Arena said on Wednesday.
"The match is extremely valuable as we continue to evaluate players with an eye towards finalising our 23-man roster for Germany."
Eleven of the 20-man squad play in Europe although captain Claudio Reyna of Manchester City is missing after having ankle surgery in January.
The Americans have already beaten Guatemala, Norway and Japan and this year and also drew with Canada.
The Poland match in Kaiserslautern is one of three the U.S. will play before Arena is expected to announce his World Cup squad at the end of April. The Americans face Germany on March 22 in Dortmund and Jamaica in Cary, North Carolina on April 11.
In May, the U.S. will play three friendlies before departing for Germany on June 1. The squad will be based in Hamburg and open their World Cup campaign on June 12 against the Czech Republic in Gelsenkirchen followed by matches against Italy and Ghana.

Goalkeepers: Tim Howard (Manchester United), Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach)

Defenders: Gregg Berhalter (Energie Cottbus), Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham), Steve Cherundolo (Hanover 96), Todd Dunivant (Los Angeles Galaxy), Eddie Lewis (Leeds United), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Jonathan Spector (Charlton Athletic)

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven), Bobby Convey (Reading), Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards)

Forwards: Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Brian McBride (Fulham), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards).

GLASGOW (AFP) - A late own-goal earned Rangers a 2-2 home draw in the first leg of their Champions League match against Villareal to keep alive their dreams of reaching the quarter-final.
The Ibrox side twice came from behind, first through Peter Lovenkrands after Juan Roman Riquelme scored from the penalty spot, and then through the Spanish side's Pena, who diverted the ball into his own net after Diego Forlan had put the visitors ahead again before the interval.
Rangers went into the game as underdogs but they made a solid start and were looking dangerous on the break only for Villarreal to be gifted an eighth minute lead after a horrendous blunder by Dado Prso.
Argentinean playmaker Riquelme swung a corner in towards the penalty spot, but as the ball hung in the air Rangers' Croatian striker inexplicably raised his arm to push it away.
French referee Eric Poulat was perfectly placed to see the foul and without hesitation pointed to the spot. Riquelme stepped up and coolly chipped the ball into the centre of the net as Rangers Dutch goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus fell to the ground.
The goal lifted the Spanish side and they thought they had doubled their lead in the 15th minute.
Riquelme's free-kick from the right caused chaos in the Rangers' six-yard box and after a scramble Gonzalo poked the ball into the net from close range. But to Rangers' relief the goal was disallowed for offside.
The Ibrox side were being completely outplayed at this stage but in the 22nd minute they drew level with a stunning strike from Lovenkrands.
Chris Burke had picked the ball up at the halfway line and made a terrific run to the edge of the 18-yard line.
Though the young winger stumbled at the edge of the box the ball fell to the Danish forward and he unleashed a sensational first-time shot which flew into the top corner of the net, leaving Villarreal's Uruguayan goalkeeper Viera stranded.
With the Rangers support lifted by the equaliser they urged their men forward and they briefly looked the more likely to get the next goal.
However, in the 35th minute Villarreal scored their second. Riquelme had again floated a free-kick towards the penalty area which Prso headed clear, back towards the Argentinean who returned a header back over the Rangers defence.
With the home side screaming for an offside decision which never came, Gonzalo controlled the ball and Uruguayan striker Forlan stepped in to rifle the ball high into the net from 10-yards.
Rangers were fired up at the start of the second-half, as they looked to get the equalising goal, and Alan Hutton tried his luck with a long range shot in the 47th minute which flew a foot over.
Burke was causing Villarreal's defenders problems with his twisting runs but he was receiving little assistance from his teammates.
The Spanish side, meanwhile, were continuing to look dangerous with their slick passing movements finding holes in the Rangers rearguard and Waterreus was required to block a Forlan shot from 12-yards on the hour mark.
Thomas Buffel replaced French-Tunisian Hamed Namouchi in the 68th minute as Rangers tried to salvage a draw from the first leg and in the 83rd the move paid off.
The Belgian international sent in a cross from the left and Villarreal's Bolivian defender Pena stuck his right leg out to divert the ball over the head of Viera and into the net.
To complete a miserable night for Prso he picked up a booking for a foul with two minutes remaining which means he will miss the second leg on March 7.

By Theo Ruizenaar.

AMSTERDAM, (Reuters) - Inter Milan staged a fierce second-half fightback to draw 2-2 at Ajax Amsterdam in their Champions League first knockout round tie on Wednesday.
Ajax, without their entire first choice midfield because of injury, made a dream start with two goals in the opening 20 minutes, but Inter hit back through Dejan Stankovic and a late Julio Cruz equaliser.
"The 2-2 draw is a justified result but it is bitter after a two-goal lead," Ajax coach Danny Blind told reporters. "Their early goal in the second was a big disappointment."
Inter were dazed early on as Ajax produced some lively attacking football. Goalkeeper Francesco Toldo did well to keep out a 13th-minute shot from Mauro Rosales, but he had no chance four minutes later with the opener from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
Rosales controlled a ball on his chest and then floated in an inviting cross which young striker Huntelaar met with a thumping header.
Inter were still recovering from that early blow when they fell further behind. Defender Urby Emanuelson was the provider this time, crossing low for Rosales who scuffed a shot past Toldo to send the Dutch crowd wild.
"We made a poor start and failed to control the match, while we also gave away too many chances," said Inter coach Roberto Mancini. "It was a lack of discipline but that is our problem."
Gradually Inter began to get a grip of the game, although Mancini's team did not come close until seconds before the break when Cruz and Ivan Cordoba both headed against the crossbar in rapid succession.
Ajax were without captain Tomas Galasek, Dutch international Wesley Sneijder, South African Steven Pienaar and Czech defender Zdenek Grygera and their experience was badly missed as Inter dominated the second half.
A lack of concentration in defence three minutes after the break allowed Stankovic to swap passes with Esteban Cambiasso before firing a deflected shot past Ajax keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.
Inter have endured a worrying dip in form in Serie A with back-to-back defeats against Fiorentina and Juventus and a 0-0 draw with Livorno, but their confidence flooded back.
Luis Figo had a curling shot well saved by Stekelenburg and Obafemi Martins, on for the disappointing Adriano, was also denied as Ajax clung grimly to their lead.
The pressure was intense, however, and with four minutes remaining Cambiasso squared a pass to Cruz inside the area who swept in the equaliser to put Inter in the driving seat for the second leg. "We played a better second half against a young opponent, but there is work to do for the return," added Mancini.
In other games, Werder Bremen beat visiting Juventus 3-2 and Villarreal tied 2-2 at Glasgow Rangers.
At Bremen, Christian Schulz put the home team ahead in the 39th minute, connecting on a rebound after Miroslav Klose's shot, but the Italian team took a 2-1 lead on goals by Pavel Nedved in the 73rd minute and David Trezeguet in the 82nd. Tim Borowski tied the score in the 87th, and Johan Micoud scored for Bremen in injury time.
Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf believes his team have what it takes to knock Italian champions Juventus out of the Champions League after a dramatic 3-2 comeback win on Wednesday at the Weserstadion.
"We know that we have to get through the match in Turin and it will be very, very hard -- but we know from this evening, the way we battled, that anything is possible," Schaaf told reporters. "It will depend on whether we are able to prove ourselves again and show as much energy as we did this evening."
Werder took the fight to the Italian side from the start, and deservedly went ahead just before halftime through Christian Schulz.
It looked as if Juventus had taken a big step towards the quarter-finals when France international striker David Trezeguet gave them a 2-1 lead in the 82nd minute before Werder came storming back with two last-gasp goals.
Schaaf said it was one of the best performances he had seen from his team in the competition and they were learning a great deal from playing against the likes of Barcelona and Juventus.
"The stronger the opposition, the more you can prove yourself," Schaaf said. "It's a great opportunity to deliver something special and the team did that this evening."
The resolve Werder showed suggested they had put last year's embarrassing 10-2 aggregate loss to Olympique Lyon at the same stage of the Champions League firmly behind them.
"The team is constantly surprising us by how they manage to hang in there in matches and then find the strength within themselves to come through," said Schaaf.
"We are constantly trying to learn and improve. Now and again there are setbacks but the trend is definitely positive. The quality is there and we should never lose sight of that."
Juventus coach Fabio Capello was frustrated at seeing his side squander a series of chances and was equally unhappy with his defence.
"We conceded goals which we should not have," said Capello. "Bremen were most dangerous at corners and set pieces. I have to say also that Bremen were in very good physical shape.
"We had three clear chances on goal and we simply did not take them."

Revolution 0 v Alajuelense 0.

HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) -- New England's Pat Noonan injured his hamstring during a 0-0 tie with Costa Rica's Alajuelense in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals Wednesday and will probably miss two games next month for the United States national team.
Earlier in the day, Noonan was among 20 players picked by U.S. coach Bruce Arena for next week's exhibition game against Poland in Germany. Noonan is considered one of the players competing for one of the final spots on the 23-man U.S. World Cup roster, which will be announced in April.
New England was close to scoring on at least a half-dozen occasions but U.S. national team players Taylor Twellman, Clint Dempsey and Noonan could not convert. Noonan was injured in the 79th minute and limped off. He will be evaluated by the medical staff Thursday.
The Costa Ricans, two-time winners of the tournament, sat back with as many as 10 men behind the ball.
The Revolution were playing only their second match of the year.
"It was hard to tell who was in their preseason and who wasn't," coach Steve Nicol said. "Overall I was happy with the performance. We had some chances, particularly in the second half, which we didn't put away, but at this stage of the season I can't be too upset with this result."
New England moved the game to Bermuda because of Boston's winter weather, and about 1,500 people attended the match at the National Sports Centre. The second leg of the total-goals series is scheduled for March 8 in Costa Rica.

Club America 2 v Portmore United 1.

HOUSTON (AP) -- Aaron Padilla scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second half to help Club America of Mexico City defeat Portmore United of Jamaica 2-1 in the quarterfinals of Series 1 play in the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Wednesday night.
Padilla scored on an easy kick from the left in the 73rd minute. Miguel Zepeda got the assist from the middle as he drew the goalkeeper out of position for Padilla's kick.
The teams were scoreless in the first half although Club America appeared to score in the 8th minute on a kick by Francisco Torres that hit the crossbar and bounced straight down.
Both teams continued playing while the stadium announcer went into his long "G-O-O-A-L" yell, and the heavily pro-Mexican crowd went wild and scorekeepers put up a goal on the scoreboard before it was realized it didn't count.
Portmore had only two saves and Club America one in the first half as there was little activity around either goal.
The shutout ended quickly in the second half as Portmore's Remeel Wolfe took a crossing pass from Omar Daley and headed the ball in the goal in the 52nd minute.
Club America tied it up in the 60th minute after Portmore's Demar Stewart was charged with a foul against Zepeda in front of the goal. Christian Gimenez scored on the penalty kick.
The two teams play again March 8 in Aztec Stadium at Mexico City. The winner of the series will advance to the semifinals March 21-23 with the finals scheduled April 11-13.

LONDON, (Reuters) - Newcastle United's caretaker manager Glenn Roeder says injured striker Michael Owen has a chance of playing in next month's FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea.
'It will be touch and go,' Roeder told the club's official website on Tuesday. 'Apparently, he's certainly not behind (his recovery) time, if anything he might be a little bit ahead of time.'
England striker Owen said earlier this month that he was confident of being fit to return from his broken toe in April.
Owen had a metal pin inserted on the fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot after colliding with Tottenham Hotspur's England goalkeeper Paul Robinson on Dec 31.
'He's got no concerns with the way the operation went and the way the injury is healing,' said Roeder. 'Apparently, it is healing really well.
No date has yet been arranged for Newcastle's trip to Stamford Bridge but the game will be played between March 20 and 23.
Roeder said it was difficult to give a precise date for Owen's return.
'He's not doing enough in training yet, he's only just started jogging,' said the former West Ham United manager.
'But he is pleased with the amount of jogging he is doing and he is pain free.'
Owen, who has scored 35 goals in 75 internationals, is a fundamental part of England's plans for the World Cup in Germany. England play their first group game against Paraguay in Frankfurt on June 10.

By Chris Cowles.

HARTFORD, Connecticut, (Reuters) - The United States will play Jamaica on April 11 in a friendly that will give players a final chance to impress coach Bruce Arena before he names his 23-man squad for the World Cup finals.
The match will be played in Cary, North Carolina, less than a month before the U.S. team begins a two-week training camp at the facility.
"The match in Cary is our last game before we make our final decisions on the World Cup roster," said Arena, "so it's obviously an important one for us."
Jamaica, who failed to qualify for the finals, have never beaten the U.S. in 16 matches with the U.S. winning nine times and the other seven matches between them ending in draws since they first met in 1988.
"With our World Cup training camp scheduled here in May and the great success that we had in Cary in advance of the 2002 World Cup, it's great to schedule an actual international game for the fans in the area."
Using an under-strength squad, the U.S. routed Guatemala 4-0 on Sunday. They play Poland in Kaiserslautern, Germany, next Wednesday before a match with World Cup hosts Germany in Dortmund on March 22. At least three other friendlies against opponents yet to be finalised are scheduled before the World Cup begins.
The U.S. open their World Cup campaign on June 12 against the Czech Republic in Gelsenkirchen followed by matches against Italy on June 17 in Kaiserslautern and Ghana on June 22 in Nuremberg.

By Ken Ferris.

LONDON, (Reuters) - Scottish league leaders Celtic made a pre-tax loss of almost a million pounds in the six months to Dec. 31 hit by their early exit from the Champions League.
Celtic lost 5-4 on aggregate to Artmedia Bratislava in the second qualifying round of Europe's elite club competition last August after trailing 5-0 from the first leg in Slovakia.
The loss of 961,000 pounds ($1.68 million) announced on Tuesday compares to a profit of 1.55 million in the six months to Dec. 31, 2004. The club's operating profit fell from 2.9 million pounds to 74,000.
In a statement accompanying the interim results chairman Brian Quinn said: "...our exit from European competition at the first hurdle...clearly had a big impact on income from ticket sales... and revenues from multimedia and communications..."
Ticket sales fell 3.9 million pounds (21 percent), while revenue from multimedia and communications dropped 5.5 million (49 percent) compared with the same period a year ago.
Total turnover for the six months of just over 33 million pounds was down 5.9 million (15 percent).

LOWER WAGES
Celtic said that despite the overall drop in total revenues, income from merchandising jumped 48 percent to 9.6 million pounds reflecting the move to Nike as the team's kit supplier.
Operating costs fell 4.2 percent to just over 29.5 million pounds mainly due to lower wages and salaries in the football division, which fell by more than three million pounds.
This drop reflected the departure of several highly paid players, including club captain Paul Lambert.
Net debt, which had spiralled to 19.5 million pounds by June 30 last year, dropped to 8.7 million by the end of 2005.
The club raised almost 15 million pounds from a new share issue in December, 10 million of which will be used for their youth academy plus scouting and player development with five million to be spent on slashing debt.
Celtic are 13 points clear of Hearts at the top of the Scottish Premier League and through to the League Cup final against Dunfermline at Hampden Park on March 19.
Celtic's shares, which closed down a 1/2 at 36 pence on Tuesday, have been listed on London's junior market AIM since December when the club moved from a full listing.

MADRID, (Reuters) - Real Madrid say they have no plans to sell Ronaldo despite media reports that they are thinking of offloading the Brazil striker after his criticism of the club's fans.
"We want to make it clear ... that the board of directors did not discuss the future of Ronaldo or any other player at their meeting yesterday," the club said in a statement on their website on Wednesday.
"The board analysed the financial situation of the club and also showed its satisfaction with the work being done by the team coach (Juan Ramon Lopez Caro) and the technical staff." Ronaldo has come under fire in the Spanish media for criticising the fans and threatening to leave the club on the eve of Tuesday's 1-0 Champions League defeat by Arsenal.
"I've never felt at home at the Bernabeu, the fans have never treated me with affection," the three times World Player of the Year told a news conference on Monday.
"The fans have never accepted me and their reaction is something to take into account when thinking about my future. I've always said that I don't want to be where I'm not loved."
There were several banners in support of the Brazilian at the Bernabeu during the Arsenal game and fans refrained from whistling him as they had done in the weekend league match against Alaves.
The 29-year-old had a quiet match and barely touched the ball as Real slumped to a first leg defeat in the last 16 tie.
His comments about Real's fans drew an interested reaction from AC Milan, whose president Adriano Galliani told Wednesday's Gazzetta dello Sport that their door was open to the former Inter Milan striker.

By Clare Lovell .

LONDON, (Reuters) - Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has sympathised with referee Terje Hauge before the highly charged Champions League match against Barcelona on Wednesday because of a culture of diving in Spanish football.
"I think it's a hard job for the referee," the Portuguese coach said at a news conference on Tuesday as Chelsea prepare to face Barca in the first knockout round at Stamford Bridge.
"But I cannot complain because I also come from a culture where football is not always clean on the pitch.
"If you go to Spain, Portugal, Italy or South America you sometimes see players diving."
Barcelona's Frank Rijkaard, speaking after his Chelsea counterpart, said: "I'm not in favour of diving players getting advantage out of something that didn't happen.
"If something happens during the game we'll have the referee to decide."
Mourinho, whose own Dutch winger Arjen Robben hit the headlines recently for a theatrical tumble when Liverpool's Jose Reina pushed him, said he had told his players to keep their eyes open and be on the look out for dirty tactics.
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was sent off in last year's first leg game after a challenge on the Barcelona goalkeeper, a decision Mourinho's bench considered harsh.
The west London side are also missing midfielder Michael Essien for both legs this time after the Ghanaian was suspended on video evidence following a tackle on Didi Hamann during a group game against Liverpool last December.
Robben and Chelsea's key English duo of captain John Terry and vice captain Frank Lampard would all miss the return in Barcelona in two weeks if they get a yellow card on Wednesday.
Mourinho has frequently praised the English game as clean and fair compared with football elsewhere.

CONTROVERSIAL HISTORY
Norway's Hauge will be under particular pressure given the controversial history of the tie.
Last season UEFA fined Mourinho for bringing the game into disrepute after the Portuguese accused Swedish referee Anders Frisk of talking to Rijkaard at halftime at the Nou Camp.
Frisk retired shortly after the tie, which Chelsea won 5-4, saying he had received death threats from Chelsea fans.
On Tuesday Mourinho was in muted form, carefully avoiding criticising Rijkaard or his team. Rijkaard, too, was in diplomatic mood. "Please stop about the tricks and psychological warfare," he said. "Chelsea are a great club. I have no hard feelings."
Rijkaard sought to play down the recent outcry over the bald and muddy Stamford Bridge pitch, though his captain Carles Puyol was more outspoken.
Asked if he thought the Chelsea had deliberately let the pitch deteriorate to frustrate Barcelona's passing game, Puyol said: "It's possible. I don't think you can discount it. You would have to ask them."
Rijkaard, though, said Chelsea were doing all they could to prepare the pitch.
"That the pitch is in a bad condition is bad for both. They are suffering from it too.
"It is true that we have a team that prefers to play on a good pitch but you cannot say Chelsea have no players of technical quality and skills who would prefer to play on a better pitch . We accept it," the former Netherlands defender said.
Mourinho said that while the surface looked ugly, bare and bumpy it, in fact, played truly.
"The ball is moving well on it, there is no deviation when the ball bounces. It's horrible to look at but it plays well," said Mourinho.
He added that France defender William Gallas would not be fit to play as he was still recovering from a hamstring injury.
Terry is likely to partner Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho in the centre of defence with Carvalho's compatriot Paulo Ferreira and Spaniard Asier Del Horno deployed as wing backs.

PSV Eindhoven 0-1 Lyon.

soccernet.com - EINDHOVEN, Netherlands, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Lyon beat PSV Eindhoven 1-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday after a goalkeeping blunder allowed Juninho to score in the 64th minute.
In a re-run of last season's quarter-final, won by PSV on penalties, the home side created the better chances.
Gomes's 64th-minute mistake when he failed to clear a 25-metre free kick proved decisive for the Dutch champions, however.
They were unable to equalise despite playing the last 10 minutes with a man extra after Lyon's Sidney Govou was sent off 10 minutes from time for a second yellow card after tugging back Cocu.
PSV started with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink up front instead of the unpredictable Arouna Kone and created their first chance after just 64 seconds, when his header forced a stretching save from Gregory Coupet.
Fourteen minutes later Lyon escaped again when a fiercely struck free kick from central defender Alex hit the bar.
Those chances apart, the Lyon defence, playing without the injured Anthony Reveillere and Claudio Cacapa, gave little away.
Coach Gerard Houllier also chose to start with a single striker in John Carew and that limited Lyon's attackng ambition.
In the first half only long distance strikes from Juninho and Carew created any danger. Juninho tried to surprise Gomes with free kick from 40 metres but the Brazilian tipped the ball over the bar.
Carew broke through on the right flank eight minutes before the interval but his hurried shot from 20 metres missed the target.
Houllier changed the course of the game with his halftime substitution of Sylvain Wiltord for defender Cris.
The move gave support to Carew and also disturbed Eindhoven's organisation.
'I knew that it would be a physical fight and in the final minutes PSV forced us back but our spirit and strength of mind pleased me,' Houllier said.
'PSV's tactical plan became obvious early in the match but I made the right changes.'
It was PSV's first home defeat in Europe since September 2003.
Coach Guus Hiddink said the result was disappointing given PSV's good first-half performance.
'We created some good chances and were close to the opening goal in the second minute, which was saved by Coupet.'
'Lyon started the second half more attacking and we were not ready for it,' Hiddink said.
'Now we have to play in Lyon and that will be tough but we are not a team to throw in the towel right now.'

Bayern Munich 1-1 AC Milan

PA - MUNICH, (Champions League) - AC Milan earned a 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena to move into the driving seat of this Champions League second round tie.
Bayern's coveted midfielder Michael Ballack was the home side's danger man in the first half and his fine goal in the 23rd minute sparked his team-mates into life.
But the home side were unable to stretch their lead and suffered the consequences as a rejuvenated Milan drew level through Andrei Shevchenko's penalty 13 minutes into the second half.
Milan had chances to win the game while Ballack had a penalty appeal turned down and headed Bayern's best second-half opportunity over.
And although the draw maintains Bayern's unbeaten record in their new stadium, it means they now need to score at the San Siro to stand any chance of progressing.
Ballack is already in the shop window after snubbing Bayern's offer of a new contract beyond the end of this season both Milan's other club, Internazional, thought to be strong contenders to acquire him.
If the clubs bidding for his services were not already convinced of his talents, they will be now.
The Germany captain took over the Bayern captaincy for the night after Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn was forced to pull out through injury, and he took the initiative with a stunning goal.
The midfielder had already shown his strength with his head, but it was his vision and execution of a volley from 25 yards which brought the fans in the Allianz Arena to their feet.
Dida in the Milan goal stretched out his arm, but was unable to reach the ball as it curled away from him into the corner.
After an opening in which Milan had invited pressure onto them and Bayern were unable to make any inroads, the goal lifted Felix Magath's German giants.
Ballack once again illustrated his talents, picking out Roy Makaay with a perfectly weighted ball from deep and the Dutchman almost wrapped up the move, but Dida made a fine save low to his right.
The chances continued to fall for the home side, but neither Lucio nor Claudio Pizarro were able to beat Dida from distance.
Milan showed just glimpses of their strength in attack, but Valerien Ismael was equal to any threat, making several well-timed tackles at the feet of Alberto Gilardino and Shevchenko.
All the excellent defensive work by Ismael was forgotten when he handled a cross from Serginho in the second half, however.
The ball clipped the French defender's arm and referee De Bleeckere from Belgium was in no doubt the intervention was intentional and pointed to the spot.
Shevchenko sent Michael Rensing the wrong way, giving the young Bayern goalkeeper his first task of the evening in picking the ball out of the back of the net.
Within minutes, Milan, who had made a bright start to the second half, had the chance to take the lead with Gilardino scooping Shevchenko's square ball over the bar from 10 yards.
Rensing had not been kept busy on his European debut in the Bayern goal, but he was alert when required to prevent Shevchenko from putting Milan ahead.
The 21-year-old remained on his feet as long as possible as the Ukrainian closed in and was able to narrow the angle and win the battle at Shevchenko's feet.
At the other end, Dida was unable to remain on his feet after defending a cross and the Brazilian was carried off with an ankle injury as Zeljko Kalac took his place.
The Australian keeper was rarely involved as tiredness on both sides caused the remainder of an evenly contested game to be disputed in midfield.
Dida, meanwhile, was taken to hospital and AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti expressed his hope after the game that the keeper had only only sprained his ankle.

Benfica 1-0 Liverpool.

soccernet.com - A headed goal six minutes from the end of this Champions League last 16 first leg by Benfica defender Luisao means holders Liverpool will have to produce one of their memorable comebacks to stay in the competition.
Previously this season Liverpool had lost just one of 13 European games, and they had lost just five of their previous 41 European away matches.
But giant defender Luisao applied the finishing touch to Benfica's vibrant performance with a winner that means Liverpool must dig deep in a fortnight in the second leg at Anfield to stay in the competition.
Without Steven Gerrard for all-but 12 minutes - he was carrying a leg injury - and with Mohamed Sissoko carried off early on after being kicked in the head, Liverpool did not possess the midfield strength to halt the Portuguese flow.
Their quest to retain their crown is not over yet but it will need a much better performance than this to keep the dream alive.
The loss of Gerrard through a minor injury before the start clearly upset Benitez's plans, and meant Luis Garcia started this tense collision of styles in the Estadio da Luz.
The Portuguese outfit, who knocked past champions United out of the competition in the group stages with a display of blinding pace, were looking to do the same thing to the current champions of Europe.
Robbie Fowler started up front with Fernando Morientes, with Xabi Alonso in central midfield after recovering from a thigh injury.
The sight, pre-match, of Benfica's fabulous eagle mascot soaring majestically around the stadium which stuns the audience into silence every time, was replaced by the constant whistle of referee Konrad Plautz.
His first act after 35 seconds was to book Luis Garcia for a wild, ill-timed lunge at Leo, and there were plenty of free-kicks to follow.
A neat Fowler backheel from a Xabi Alonso free-kick almost squeezed through to Sami Hyypia in the six yard box, but that was as near as anybody had even come to a chance in the early stages.
Steve Finnan stuck tight to Laurent Robert, an old adversary, and Liverpool began putting some passing and possession together.
The game livened up when keeper Moretto dropped a swirling cross and the ball fell behind him and in front of an open goal, but Fowler could not turn quickly enough to take advantage.
Then Robert got away down the left and surged into the box only to be met by an excellent last ditch diving block from Jose Reina.
Liverpool were then hit by more misfortune and had Sissoko carried off after being kicked in the head by Beto's high kick, which earned him a booking, and eventually Dietmar Hamann was able to come on as substitute after 34 minutes.
That incident unsettled Liverpool's rhythm and Benfica soon had them on the back-foot with some rapid attacks down the flanks. John Arne Riise sent Robert flying and was fortunate to avoid a booking.
Benfica turned up the pressure after the break, having turned on the sprinklers at half-time only on the half of the pitch they were to be attacking, no doubt trying to increase the zip off the surface.
But it was Luis Garcia, who volleyed wastefully over from an unmarked position after Harry Kewell's chip, that threatened to break the deadlock.
Hamann was booked for a foul on Nuno Gomes before Petit fired a dipping free-kick over the bar. Beto was replaced by Giorgos Karagounis after 57 minutes before Petit then tried to lob Reina from 40 yards, but the keeper just managed to get back to claw the ball away.
Djibril Cisse took over from Fowler after 65 minutes, to provide the pace so sadly lacking in Liverpool's attacks.
But Benfica still kept coming forward, probing for the openings with Jamie Carragher and Hyypia at full-stretch.
Liverpool, through Xabi Alonso and Hamann, did get the ball forward but there was little sign of any real chance to give the holders something to defend in the final minutes.
Benfica took off Robert after 76 minutes and replaced him with Nelson.
With 12 minutes to go, Benitez took the risk of throwing Gerrard into the fray in place of Morientes, the need for some meaningful midfield destruction clear for all to see.
But when Hamann conceded a free-kick 25 yards out after 84 minutes, it opened the way for Benfica to grab a crucial goal. Petit lifted the ball into the box and giant defender Luisao was there to guide a header just inside the near post.
A defiant late flurry from Liverpool failed to make any impression on the Portuguese, and they were able to celebrate yet another famous victory.

soccernet.com - Arsene Wenger knows there is still plenty of hard work ahead after Arsenal gave themselves every chance of reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a superb victory over Real Madrid in the Bernabeu.
A stunning individual effort from captain Thierry Henry at the start of the second half proved enough to settle an entertaining encounter - although the Gunners could have had more goals against the distinctly below-par Spaniards.
Henry peels away to celebrate after scoring a goal that edged Arsenal towards the quarter-finals.
Wenger, however, fully understands the tie is not finished yet.
'You have to expect Madrid will be giving everything at Highbury,' the Arsenal manager said.
'I expect them to be at their best, but we have a fantastic opportunity at Highbury to qualify and I am convinced my players will give everything.
'We will play to win - that is the only approach we can have because to sit in against them would be a mistake.
'But they have to come out now and score goals, so it will be a very interesting game.'
Wenger felt his young team had come of age last night.
'We have shown character recently and I think there is something coming out - and on this night, we produced it,' the Arsenal boss declared.
'I am happy in every department, the only regret is there was maybe room for one or two more goals - we had the chances, which we did not take and that keeps the game open in the second leg.'
Wenger hailed the performance of match-winner Henry and his team-mates in what was a fantastic group effort.
'Overall we needed the experienced players to do well throughout the team - we needed big nights from them, and the young players have done extremely well also,' said Wenger.
'I feel there is nobody who did not have an outstanding game.'
Real's best chance fell to England captain David Beckham midway through the first half, with Jens Lehmann making a terrific save with his legs.
Madrid coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro remained defiant, despite his side's disappointing display.
'Arsenal were well organised, especially in defence,' he observed.
'We did not play our normal game - and we will see how things go now in London.
'My players tried to do well, but it was not their best performance.
'We had some chances, but were not as precise as we should have been.'
Caro declared: 'I have full confidence in the team, and in London, it will be different.'
The Real coach revealed defender Jonathan Woodgate - hoping for an England recall - looked to have injured his hamstring, which forced the centre-half to be replaced after just nine minutes.
Caro said: 'It is a muscle problem, around the back of the thigh.'

Real Madrid 0-1 Arsenal
MADRID, (Champions League) - Arsene Wenger got what he had demanded when Thierry Henry lead a superb team effort as Arsenal recorded a famous win in the first leg of their Champions League clash with Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Richard Heathcote/GettyImages
Ronaldo holds off Philippe Senderos
The Gunners skipper netted a breathtaking solo effort at the start of the second half, which proved enough to give the visitors a slender advantage to defend at Highbury in a fortnight.
It was a brilliant all-round performance from Wenger's men, who battled from kick-off to frustrate the hosts with a solid defensive display and some exquisite counter-attacks, which stretched Real time and again.
Wenger's side almost got off to a flying start on Tuesday.
Henry surged forwards, before releasing Jose Antonio Reyes into the left side of the penalty area.
The angle, though, was just too tight and Iker Casillas got down to make a smart, one-handed save.
Reyes almost got away again after five minutes, but Thomas Gravesen, formally of Everton, defended well in his own box to snuff out the danger before Ljungberg was put in by Henry, with only a last-gasp saving tackle stopping the Swede from having a shot on goal.
Real were forced into a change when Jonathan Woodgate limped off after just nine minutes, to be replaced by Alvaro Mejia - leaving a question mark over the England defender's hopes of an international recall next week.
It was still all Arsenal - and Reyes' cross from the left was headed just wide by Henry, who climbed well in the six-yard box but for once was off-target.
The home side finally created their first meaningful attack when the ball was swung over from the left, and Beckham was just unable to connect when arriving at speed at the far post.
Reyes got ahead of Cicinho, and was brought down on the edge of the area, earning the Real full-back a yellow card in the 27th minute.
Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann pulled off a fantastic save with his legs to deny Beckham after the England captain had been put clear by a clever reverse pass from Ronaldo on the edge of the Arsenal box.
Alexander Hleb and Henry combined to put the Frenchman away down the right, and his low cut-back went right across goal as for once Arsenal lacked support.
As the first half drew to an exciting close, Henry again found himself clear down the left and into the area - but this time his cross was too close to Casillas, with Ljungberg waiting for a square pass.
Arsenal took the lead two minutes after the restart.
There looked little danger when Henry collected the ball on the half-way line.
The Arsenal skipper, though, had other ideas, surging forwards towards the Real goal. After holding off challenges from Ronaldo and Madrid captain Guti, Henry took the ball on into the area, before ghosting past Sergio Ramos and slotting home with a low strike back under Casillas.
The home fans were stunned, but the travelling ranks of some 3,500 Gunners in the Bernabeu went delirious.
The night's work was far from over, however, and the Real fans screamed for what would have been a harsh penalty when Cicinho went down too easily under Reyes' sliding challenge.
After 55 minutes, Cesc Fabregas skipped away down the left channel and to the goal-line, before his cutback was picked out of the air by Casillas, with Ljungberg waiting in the centre.
Arsenal continued to remain composed when in possession, a situation which was now getting through to the Real supporters.
Beckham's free-kick from the right was a case in point, substitute Raul flicking his backward header high over the crossbar.
Tempers then threatened to boil over when Reyes went to ground on the far touchline after falling awkwardly when challenging for a high ball with Gravesen.
Play was eventually stopped to allow the Spaniard treatment after he had rolled back into play - much to the frustration of several Real players, who tried to push him back off the pitch and keeper Casillas earned a yellow card for rushing out of his goal to protest to referee Stefano Farina.
Substitute Abou Diaby almost made an instant impact, but Casillas was quick off his line to save at the edge of the area with 11 minutes left, before the Real keeper also denied Pires with a strong stop at the near post.
Lehmann made a goalline save of his own to keep out Sergio Ramos' late effort as Arsenal secured a famous victory which gives them every chance of progressing to the quarter-finals.

Tobago News.

Bon Accord Government Primary School's Jem Gordon and Mt St George Methodist's Juel Jack will be Tobago's representatives in the Stern John National Skills competition.
Both players shared the honours in the Tobago Zonal competition.
Gordon won five of the seven categories and will have multiple opportunities to win at least one national title while Jack will compete in two categories.
The very popular Skills competition, the brainchild of Soca Warriors leading goalscorer Stern John, presently campaigning with Coventry City in the English league Premier Division is schedule for Trinidad soon. Gordon and Jack will lead their respective schools BonAccord Government Primary and Mt St George Methodist in the schools team competition while two other schools Charlotteville Methodist and Scarborough Methodist will also be in the fray for National glory.

Beckenbauer on visit to Manning asks: You’re going to beat England, right?

Franz Beckenbauer opened his meeting with T&T’s Prime Minister yesterday with a vote of confidence for the smallest country in this year’s World Cup finals.
“You’re going to beat England, right?,” asked the World Cup organising committee president.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning replied:
“We’ll do our best.”
Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as a player and manager, was visiting T&T for the organising committee’s welcome tour.
In Germany, T&T will play in Group B with Sweden, England and Paraguay.
Although Beckenbauer broke the ice with support for T&T’s “Soca Warriors,” an adviser traveling with him said it would be nearly impossible for the former British colony to upset England.
“They have a very experienced coach (Leo Beenhakker) but the team itself is not that strong,” said Markus Jestaedt, a World Cup media adviser traveling with Beckenbauer.
“As a new team their chances aren’t so good.”
Beckenbauer’s adviser said T&T was too old and the team too inexperienced on the international stage.
“Their star, Dwight Yorke, scored many goals in his career, but that was years ago,” said Jestaedt. But “the World Cup has a lot of surprises, you never know what could happen.”
T&T was the 26th stop on Beckenbauer’s 31-nation tour. He had just arrived from Brazil, the defending World Cup champion. He will go on to Costa Rica today, wrapping up an eight-country swing through the Americas with a visit to Mexico City and New York this week.
“The main country on this tour for us is Costa Rica, because Germany is playing them in the opening match.” said Jestaedt.

BARCELONA, Spain (Ticker) - Barcelona striker Ronaldinho has been tormented by the Champions League loss to Chelsea a year ago and is determined to prevent a repeat this week at Stamford Bridge.
"I still have images in my head of when the game finished in London and we were out. I do not want this to happen again this year," the Brazilian said.
The striker further admitted that victory is a matter of Spanish national pride.
"I know that everyone is talking about this match, it is the kind of event which stirs a country. We represent Spain so we aim to do well and we are only thinking about the victory," Ronaldinho said. "The game in London will be vital and the objective will be to get a good result so we do not suffer in the Nou Camp."
Chelsea defender John Terry has said he plans to give Ronaldinho some rough treatment to try and put him off his game, but the Brazilian is unconcerned.
"This does not bother me. I am training as much as I can so as to escape any markers," Ronaldinho said. "The only thing that interests me is to play at my best and help the team.
"I respect the Chelsea defense but I am not worried or scared. We have to try and forget the past - we committed errors and we will aim not to repeat them."

By Alastair Himmer.

TOKYO, (Reuters) - Holders Japan begin their 2007 Asian Cup qualifying campaign with a home tie against India on Wednesday, looking to build momentum before the World Cup.
The Asian champions are expected to cruise to victory over India in Yokohama and the opening goal would be their 100th since Brazilian Zico became Japan coach in July 2002.
Japan were beaten 3-2 by the United States in their first match of the year earlier this month but returned home to beat Finland 2-0 at the weekend with a much-improved performance.
"We still have areas of concern but we're improving with every game which is important in a World Cup year," Zico told reporters.
"I'll be making a few changes, but we will still be taking this game seriously."
Zico will again be without his Europe-based contingent, including Bolton's Hidetoshi Nakata and Shunsuke Nakamura of Celtic.
However, the successful return of Tatsuhiko Kubo after a lengthy injury layoff has given Japan a major lift as they look to strengthen an unreliable attack.

MORE OPTIONS
The Yokohama striker scored Japan's first goal against a below-strength Finland in Shizuoka -- his first for his country since June 2004.
"Kubo is a clever player and the goal has given him extra confidence," Zico added.
"A fit Kubo gives us more options and he just needs more games under his belt to find his best form."
The Japanese have been drawn with India, Yemen and fellow World Cup qualifiers Saudi Arabia in Asian Cup qualifying Group A.
The 2007 finals will be co-hosted by Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Japan's World Cup group is an altogether more difficult proposition, with Zico's players drawn alongside holders Brazil, Croatia and Australia in Germany.
Realistically, India will be aiming to keep the scoreline respectable as the cricket-mad country is not expected to make it beyond the qualifying stage.
"I have told the boys not to feel inferior or underestimate themselves," India coach Syed Nayeemuddin told Reuters before his team left for Japan last week.
"We have to go there thinking we can beat Japan."

By Simon Baskett.

MADRID, (Reuters) - Brazil striker Ronaldo paved the way for his departure from Real Madrid at the end of the season by saying he has never felt loved by the club's fickle fans.
"The fans have never accepted me and their reaction is something to take into account when thinking about my future," the three times World Player of the Year told a news conference on the eve of Real's Champions League match against Arsenal.
"I've always said that I don't want to be where I'm not loved. I've never felt at home at the Bernabeu, the fans have never treated me with affection.
"I will make a decision at the end of the season. After all the effort I made to come to this club I don't understand why I'm treated like this," the 29-year-old added angrily on Monday.
"I will decide on my future after the World Cup."
Ronaldo joined Real for 35 million euros ($41.79 million) from Inter Milan following a brilliant performance at the 2002 World Cup. He is under contract at Real until 2008.
Although he has been the club's leading scorer in every season since joining Real he has never managed to win a place in the hearts of the notoriously fickle Madrid fans.
He was whistled by a section of Real supporters when he was replaced by new signing Antonio Cassano after he failed to score during a 3-0 win over Alaves at the weekend.
This season he has struggled with a succession of injuries and has faced regular criticism from the press over his fitness and weight.
He has not appeared for Real in their present Champions League campaign, missing their first two group games because of a ban and the rest through injury.

LITTLE PATIENCE
"I've thought about the way I'm treated and spoken with thousands of people, but I have never understood why the fans have so little patience with me," Ronaldo said. "As soon as I make an error people jeer me.
"The Madrid fans are very special and they seem to get motivated by the idea of an impossible comeback win, but in a goalless draw in the league they start getting on our backs. We need fans that will support us all the time.
"I don't know how the fans will react to what I said but, to be honest, I don't care."
Ronaldo said he had made no concrete plans to leave Real as yet but made clear that his departure was on the cards.
"I still haven't thought about leaving Real Madrid yet. At the end of the season I will make a decision. The president knows how I feel and why I'm sad about this.
"If I decide to leave Real Madrid at the end of the season then all options will be open."

By FIFAworldcup.com

The United States kept up their stunning form in 2006 with a 4-0 thrashing of Guatemala on Sunday in Frisco, Texas.
The game marked the return to form of Eddie Johnson, the young striker whose scoring exploits near the tail end of FIFA World Cup™ qualifying had him looking a certainty for Bruce Arena's squad for Germany. The former US youth standout, who only days ago left FC Dallas for Kansas City Wizards, had struggled to find his form after several serious injuries but he put himself back in the running here with the third goal in a man-of-the-match performance on his old club's ground.

After something of a sluggish start, the Americans – without the services of six of the starters who helped inspire recent wins over Norway and Japan – got their opener seven minutes from the interval from an unlikely source. Wide midfielder Ben Olsen – known more for his tireless work up the touchline than any prowess in front of goal - slammed home a shot from 30 yards after collecting a fine chipped pass from Chris Klein. It was the injury-plagued Olsen's first goal for the US since November 2002.
Without the prolific New England Revolution forward Taylor Twellman, who was preparing for his club's midweek CONCACAF Champions Cup game against Alajuelense of Costa Rica, the US attack looked short of ideas in the first half. But Brian Ching did his hopes of a ticket to Germany no harm by cracking in a shot from close range to double the lead with the last kick of the first period – effectively killing off Guatemalan hopes of a comeback. Though he put this one away with his foot, the Hawaiian-born striker's aerial ability makes him a dangerous weapon and must be a tempting option for Arena.
The US made it 3-0 early in the second half through substitute Johnson, who had replaced Josh Wolff at the break. Johnson took advantage of a defensive mix-up before darting past two defenders and poking the ball home from close range. It was the 21-year-old striker's first goal of the year and his ninth in 12 appearances for the US national team. The 14,000-plus fans who braved the sub-zero temperatures in Frisco honoured the youngster with a thunderous ovation.
Klein completed the rout in the 71st minute with a rifled shot from the edge of the box as the USA extended their unbeaten streak to four games in 2006, with 12 goals scored and only two conceded.

'I felt good out there'Johnson – who will have to impress in the US's remaining friendlies to bully his way back into contention for Germany – was happy to be back. "The two goals at the end of the first half gave me the chance to get in there and do my thing," said the player, who is just getting over a calf injury. "I felt good out there and was able to play smart soccer. I just need to get my confidence back, get more games and get back to the way I was playing before the injuries."
Arena will be pleased with the performance of a new-look side that had been expected to struggle without playmaker Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Twellman – who all returned to their club sides to prepare for Champions Cup games and the upcoming start of the MLS season.
"I thought it was a good performance today by our team," the coach said. "I think the Guatemalan team gave us a really good game. They were tough to break down and they defended well in the early going. We had some goal-scoring opportunities that we failed on early in the game and we struggled a bit."
The Americans, who totalled 19 shots to Guatemala's three, take on Poland in their next fixture on 1 March in Kaiserslautern before meeting FIFA World Cup hosts Germany in Dortmund on 22 March.

By FIFAworldcup.com

The high point of the year in Trinidad and Tobago is at the end of February when the carnival comes to town.
In terms of size and colour, this Caribbean carnival is very much the equal of anything that Rio de Janeiro has to offer. The islanders don their glitzy costumes and party the whole weekend long to the rhythm of Calypso and Soca beats.
This year, however, the Caribbean carnival season began much earlier - on 16 November when Trinidad and Tobago qualified for their first ever FIFA World Cup™ finals. The whole country united in celebration, with locals dancing in the streets of the capital, Port of Spain.

With impeccable timing, the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour came to town a week before the beginning of this year's carnival season. The party atmosphere has already taken over the island, even at the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence which is the headquarters of the CONCACAF football confederation. Costumes are already very much in evidence, making the Trophy Tour even more of a special event.
Makeda is sporting red and white warrior's robes "made especially for the World Cup in Germany". The costume, complete with feather head dress, will be worn by all the fans going to Germany to support their team. Makeda does not know yet whether she will be able to make the trip but says: "I'd love to go to the World Cup in Germany this summer and I really hope that I'll be able to manage it."
Despite a thermometer reading of 32 degrees centigrade, there is a slight breeze, so the temperature feels just about right. Puppets and inflatables dance in the wind, calypso beats fill the air and steel drums – the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago – serenade the visitors as they arrive.

Inside the centre, stilt-walkers in wild costumes welcome young and old alike, and right from the moment the doors are opened to the public, the loudspeaker booms out a song praising the efforts of the country's footballers: "Germany! Germany! Hey Soca Warriors, wonderful!" The team's anthem - "I'm a Soca Warrior" by Maximus Dan – also seems to be on a continuous loop. Dan himself, a dancehall/soca star and a big fan of the team, is here in person to see the Trophy, and he is happy to pose for photos and sign autographs.

Video walls on either side of the entrance welcome visitors with a medley of the Soca Warriors' goals from their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, the highlight of course being Dennis Lawrence's strike which saw the team home in their final play-off against Bahrain.
School parties pour into the Centre of Excellence throughout the morning to catch a glimpse of the FIFA World Cup Trophy. Queues soon build up, but the time passes quickly thanks to the variety of entertainment on offer, including table football games and X-Boxes. When one of the staff asks who is going to win at Germany 2006, 200 children reply in unison "Soca Warriors!"
Music is in the blood in this part of the world, as evidenced by the way the visitors sway to the rhythms pounding out of the loudspeakers. Those present are also treated to a fascinating 3-D film featuring classic moments from past FIFA World Cups, featuring such stars as Diego Maradona, Pele and Ronaldinho.
The viewers seem to swell up with pride and excitement as they watch the film, no doubt thinking to themselves: "This time around, we're going to be there!" Support for the team is almost unconditional. Visitors take it in turns to sign their names and write good luck messages to Dwight Yorke and his team-mates on special walls.

"St Lucia supports T&T" is there for all to see in big letters showing that all the Caribbean islands are pulling together for the FIFA World Cup. The sun slowly begins to set, making the sky a blaze of colour, but the party is far from over. The following day, 18 February, the Trophy Tour will move on to its next leg, as it works its way around the world and back home to Germany.
Fans around the globe are in for a colourful treat next summer, particularly in the cities and stadiums of Dortmund, Nuremberg and Kaiserslautern, where Trinidad and Tobago will be playing their Group B games against England, Sweden and Paraguay. And who knows, maybe these Soca Warriors could be the surprise package of the FIFA World Cup. Carnival time in June 2006? Why not...

By Mark Elkington.

MADRID, (Reuters) - Ronaldinho was in inspirational form as he returned to lead Barcelona to a 5-1 home victory over an unfortunate Real Betis in the Primera Liga on Saturday.
The leaders now have 55 points and remain seven clear of second-placed Real Madrid who recorded their sixth consecutive league win by sweeping aside lowly Alaves 3-0 at the Bernabeu.
Barca's Brazilian playmaker, who was suspended for the league defeats against Atletico Madrid and Valencia, played a part in Henrik Larsson's opener and triggered Melli's own goal.
Ronaldinho then went on two score two himself from free kicks but it was not all plain sailing for the home side who had keeper Victor Valdes to thank for a number of crucial saves.
Joaquin pulled a goal back for Betis on the hour but Lionel Messi came off the bench to make it five with six minutes left.
In a near repeat of the three goals Real Madrid scored in 10 minutes against Real Zaragoza in the King's Cup in midweek, they stormed into an early lead at the Bernabeu.
Guti opened the scoring in the sixth minute and Robinho added a second in the 11th, but they had to wait until the 77th before adding a third through Cicinho.
Real captain Raul came on as a substitute in the second half to a standing ovation after three months out with a knee injury.
Real could slip back to third if Valencia, who have 46 points, beat Real Sociedad away on Sunday.
Below them Javier Saviola scored the only goal as Sevilla beat visitors Celta Vigo 1-0 to climb above them to fifth on 41 points, two ahead of the Galicians.
Villarreal cruised to a 4-0 home win over Espanyol to move up a spot to seventh with 38 points.

UNLUCKY MELLI
Ronaldinho instigated a classic counter-attack after 17 minutes driving forward in midfield and feeding Samuel Eto'o on the right flank, from where the Cameroon striker crossed quickly for Larsson to score at the far post.
A large slice of luck put Barca firmly in control in the 28th when Melli diverted Ronaldinho's through ball into his own net as he tried to prevent Eto'o reaching the pass.
Five minutes later Ronaldinho's free kick came off the wall, hit Melli on the back and rolled into the goal as the Betis defender's wrong-footed keeper stood and watched helplessly.
Home keeper Valdes had to be alert to save well from Dani and Arzu in one-on-one's in the first half as Barca suddenly looked shaky at the back.
In the 58th minute Ronaldinho scored a fourth when his dipping free kick squirmed out of Antonio Doblas's hands and just inside the post.
Joaquin's free kick from 25 metres out surprised Valdes at his near post soon after but Messi made it five near the end as he showed great persistence harrying defenders to break into the area and score off the near post.

LONDON (AP) -- Peter Crouch scored Saturday to give Liverpool a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the FA Cup, the club's first over United in the competition since 1921.
Crouch's 19th-minute goal was his first in eight matches and made him the first Liverpool striker to score this year.
In other fifth-round matches, Charlton beat League One Brentford 3-1, while Bolton and West Ham will replay after a 0-0 draw. Newcastle beat Southampton 1-0 off Kieron Dyer's goal in the 68th minute.
It was the third straight win for Newcastle since it fired manager Graeme Souness on Feb. 2. Glenn Roeder is in charge until the end of the season.
At Anfield, Crouch headed Steven Gerrard's corner kick toward the goal and the United goalkeeper could only push the ball on to the post, where it bounced into the net.
United's bad day got worse in the last minute when substitute Alan Smith landed awkwardly on his left leg after jumping to block John Arne Riise's kick. He was carried from the field on a stretcher with his leg strapped and taking oxygen through a face mask.
"He has broken his leg and dislocated the ankle joint," United manager Alex Ferguson told MUTV. "It is a bad one. He has gone to hospital, it looks very long term -- it is one of the worst I have seen."

ROME (AP) -- Ten-man Juventus allowed a goal with 4 minutes remaining and settled for a 2-2 draw with Messina on Saturday, enabling AC Milan to close within 10 points of the Serie A leader thanks to a 1-0 win at home over Cagliari.
AC Milan's victory moved it into second place ahead of crosstown rival Inter, which was held to a 0-0 draw at Livorno and remained 12 points behind Juventus.
Alberto Gilardino converted a 23rd-minute penalty, his 15th goal this season, to give Milan its third straight victory and stretch its unbeaten streak to seven matches.
Despite losing defender Fabio Cannavaro to a second yellow card in the 52nd minute, Juventus took a 2-1 lead in the 81st minute when substitute Adrian Mutu converted the team's second penalty after Zlatan Ibrahimovic was fouled.
But Messina's newly signed Sergio Floccari scored his second of the game 5 minutes later with a header off a free kick, earning the draw but leaving the club in 15th place. The goals were the 24-year-old Floccari's first in the Serie A after joining Messina in January. He played in Italy's third division until last year.
Juventus extended its unbeaten run to 23 games including a 16-match run in the Serie A since a 3-1 loss to AC Milan in October.

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Ronaldinho celebrated his return from suspension with a goal and led FC Barcelona's 5-1 win over Real Betis on Saturday, extending the club's lead to seven points atop the Spanish league.
Henrik Larsson and substitute Lionel Messi also scored at Camp Nou stadium, while Betis defender Juan "Melli" Andreu contributed two own-goals to end Barcelona's two-match losing streak.
Earlier Saturday, Real Madrid climbed past idle Valencia into second place with a 3-0 win over Alaves on goals by Jose Maria "Guti" Gutierrez, Robinho and Cicinho at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Barcelona leads the league with 55 points, while Madrid has 48, Valencia 46 and Osasuna 43. Valencia can reclaim second place on Sunday if it wins at Real Sociedad.

BERLIN (AP) -- Michael Ballack scored in the 89th minute for Bayern Munich to tie Hannover 96 1-1 in the Bundesliga and extend its unbeaten streak to 15.
Fifth-place Hannover, unbeaten in 11 matches, took a 1-0 lead on Thomas Brdaric's 56th-minute goal.
Bayern lost goalkeeper Oliver Kahn in the 51st minute when he bruised his thigh in a challenge on Brdaric.
Werder Bremen moved into second and nine points behind Bayern with a 1-0 win against Borussia Dortmund. Ivan Klasnic scored with a 15-meter shot.
Fourth-place Schalke beat Hertha Berlin 2-1. Schalke midfielder Fabian Ernst was sent off in the 66th, but the team hung on to pick up its third win under new coach Mirko Slomka.
In other matches, it was: Moenchengladbach 2, Cologne 0; Bayer Leverkusen 3, MSV Duisburg 2; Nuremberg 1, VfL Wolfsburg 0; and FC Kaiserslautern 2, Bielefeld 0.

PARIS (AP) -- Bordeaux defeated Ajaccio 2-0 Saturday to cut Lyon's lead to seven points atop of the French first division.
Moroccan forward Marouane Chamakh put Bordeaux ahead in the 32nd minute, and Brazilian midfielder Denilson chipped the ball over goalkeeper Stephane Trevisan in the 57th to seal the victory.
Lyon leads the French league with 59 points from 26 games. Bordeaux is second with 52 points from 27 games.
Lyon defeated Nantes 3-1 Friday with goals from Juninho, Mahamadou Diarra and Fred.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) -- Rangers beat Hibernian 2-0 on Saturday to move to third in the Scottish Premier League.
Goals by Kris Boyd and Barry Ferguson ended Rangers' three-match losing streak, but it is still eight points behind second-place Hearts, which beat Motherwell 3-0.
Celtic has 64 points, followed by Hearts with 54. Rangers has 46, one more than Hibernian. Kilmarnock's 3-1 win over Livingston gave it 44 points for fifth place.
In other matches, it was: Aberdeen 1, Falkirk 0; and Dundee United 2, Inverness Caledonian Thistle 4.

LISBON, Portugal (AP) -- Ricardo Sa Pinto converted a first-half penalty and Brazilian striker Deivid de Souza and midfielder Rodrigo Tello added goals in the final three minutes to hand Sporting a 3-0 victory over Pacos Ferreira on Saturday, its fourth straight victory to give it sole possession of second place in the Portuguese Superliga.
The victory gave Sporting 46 points, three more than Benfica, which suffered its its third defeat in four league games -- 2-0 to next-to-last Guimaraes. FC Porto, which leads with 48 points, hosts Maritimo on Sunday.
Benfica, which faces Liverpool in a European Champions League match on Tuesday, produced another lackluster performance. Danish defender Savastien Svard and Neca provided the goals for Guimaraes, which won only its sixth in 23 games.

PARIS, (Reuters) - Inspirational playmaker Juninho scored one goal and set up another to put Olympique Lyon back on the winning trail with a 3-1 victory over Nantes on Friday.
The champions clinched their first Ligue 1 success in over a month after being held to three consecutive draws.
After 26 matches Lyon are 10 points clear of second-placed Girondins Bordeaux, who face a tricky challenge at struggling AC Ajaccio on Saturday.
Despite kicking off the weekend programme, Lyon have played the same number of games as Bordeaux because their outing at Monaco on Jan. 29 was postponed due to a flooded pitch.
The victory was a relief for Gerard Houllier's injury-hit team, whose form has been patchy in recent weeks.
Lyon had a 14-point cushion in mid-January but it had been whittled down to seven after successive draws with AJ Auxerre, Bordeaux and Racing Lens.
The win was also a timely boost for Lyon, who are preparing for a tough trip to PSV Eindhoven in the opening leg of their Champions League first knockout round tie on Tuesday.
They are eager to avenge a penalty shootout defeat to the Dutch side in the Champions League quarter-finals last year.
On Friday, Lyon were the first to pose a threat against visiting Nantes with Juninho, who was captain in the absence of the injured Claudio Cacapa, showing the way to goal.
The Brazilian slotted home a superb 20-metre free-kick in the ninth minute, his first Ligue 1 goal since Oct. 22 when Lyon demolished Metz 4-0 away.
Juninho then provided a fine cross for fellow midfielder Mahamadou Diarra to volley home from close range in the 35th.
Prodigious striker Fred, without a goal for over a month, also found his scoring touch again as he wrapped up the points before the hour mark. Mamadou Diallo got a consolation goal for Nantes 15 minutes from time.

By Mark Elkington.

MADRID, (Reuters) - Former Chelsea striker Mateja Kezman expects Jose Mourinho's mind games and meticulous planning to give them the edge over Barcelona in their Champions League last 16 tie next week.
"Mourinho is the greatest coach I've ever met," Kezman told Reuters. "He's a very strong tactician. He has a team of seven people who work with him and he prepares for games so well it's incredible.
"I think Chelsea will win because they play a different kind of game to Barcelona, more varied, which makes them very difficult to beat."
The Serbia & Montenegro international, who left Stamford Bridge to join Primera Liga club Atletico Madrid, praised his former boss despite not having had the most comfortable of relationships with him in his year in England.
"With the media he is like an actor sometimes, from a good film not a poor one, but he's also a very difficult character," Kezman continued.
"We had a tough relationship. Our characters are similar and I was unhappy about being on the bench, but I learned a lot from him tactically and mentally. I really respect him."
Of his former team mates Kezman singled out captain John Terry as the principal character in Chelsea's dressing room.
"Terry is a great leader and a fantastic person on and off the pitch. He talks to everyone and pushes the whole side," he said."
Atletico's offer to take him to Spain last June, however, provided the former PSV Eindhoven player with the perfect chance to get his career back on track.

ROUGH RIDE
"English football is unique. It is more about fighting spirit and kick and rush. In Spain and Holland they like to play more, hold possession and play a tactical game which suits me better.
"I didn't like living in London, either. The city is so big and crowded, and it is always raining. After about three months there I decided I wanted to leave. My family was also very unhappy and my wife spent most of the time in Serbia.
"But it was a fantastic experience in England with the biggest club in the world at present.
"Now my family and I are very happy in Spain. We love the people, the city, the weather, and the way of life here. Unlike England and Holland everyone is very open and friendly here, more like my home country."
Although pleased with his change to the Spanish capital he admits it has been a rough ride in his first season.
Reserve team coach Pepe Murcia stepped up to replace Carlos Bianchi last month after a run of poor results and the change has galvanised a side that was struggling.
They have now won four Primera Liga games on the trot to move up to ninth in the table, six points off the European places.
"The new coach is very ambitious and works more on the tactics. He makes everything a lot more fun and talks to us a lot more. Bianchi didn't do that. Maybe football is different in Argentina," Kezman said.
"I have scored seven goals in about 17 games so am pleased with my work so far. I would like to stay here to the end of my football career and play in Europe with Atletico. The club and the people deserve it."

SPANISH BECKHAM
Hailed as one of Atletico's star signings last summer he was never likely to challenge Spain striker Fernando Torres in the popularity stakes at the Vicente Calderon.
The 21-year-old former youth teamer has been the club's leading scorer for the last three seasons.
"Torres is a great guy and a great talent. He's still very young but everyone is talking about him and he's very expensive," Kezman said.
"He's great to play with, very quick and very strong, which gives me space. We play well together and are good friends off the pitch as well."
With Chelsea reportedly one of a number of clubs interested in Torres, Kezman had words of warning for his colleague if he considered swapping the Calderon for Stamford Bridge.
"He would have to be prepared to sit on the bench sometimes, and to play in a rotation system," he said. "Mourinho treats everyone the same.
"You have to be a bit special but without an ego. In Spain Torres is a big star like David Beckham is in England. So maybe it would be difficult for him.
"He always asks me about English football, the different clubs and so on, but if a big offer came in from Chelsea then he would have to bare this in mind."

LONDON, (Reuters) - Luton Town handed Reading their first league defeat in 34 matches when Rowan Vine scored twice in a 3-2 win over the second division leaders on Friday.
Reading, who suffered their only previous league defeat when they lost 2-1 at home to Plymouth Argyle on the opening day of the season, remain on 83 points from 35 matches.
Second-placed Sheffield United, with 71 points, play their game in hand at neighbours Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
The top two are promoted automatically to the Premier League. Luton, with 48 points from 35 matches, are eighth.
There was no sign of the shock to come at the Madejski Stadium when Kevin Doyle scored for Reading after only 21 seconds.
Vine equalised with a right-foot shot in the 20th minute before putting Luton 2-1 ahead from a cross by Kevin Foley six minutes later.
Luton made sure of victory when Dean Morgan drove the ball home from 25 metres six minutes into the second half.
Doyle pulled a goal back for Reading when he headed in his second goal from close range in the final minute.

Fitzpatrick, Tarley, Flores, Kreamalmeyer, Lookingland & Jake Besagno released; RSL's Cunningham adds hat trick to beat D.C. United 3-1 in Bradenton, Fla.

Real Salt Lake Media Relations.

SALT LAKE CITY - Real Salt Lake today announced that the team has waived senior roster players MF Leslie "Tiger" Fitzpatrick and FW Melvin Tarley. In addition, RSL has also released non-roster invitees DF Jake Besagno, DF Michael Lookingland, DF Sergio Flores and MF Luke Kreamalmeyer to reduce its 38-man roster to 32 heading into the fourth week of preseason training camp, which moves from IMG Academy in Bradenton across the Florida peninsula to Ft. Lauderdale for the next two weeks. RSL has 12 days remaining to pare four more players from its roster in order to meet Major League Soccer's 28-man roster requirement by Wednesday, March 1, 2006.
Fitzpatrick was acquired from the United Soccer League First Division's Atlanta Silverbacks on April 15, 2005. The Port-of-Spain, Trinidad native was featured in 18 games, with six starts, and added two assists for RSL during its 2005 inaugural season campaign.

Tarley was obtained by RSL on August 29 from the USL First Division Minnesota Thunder, and notched his first and only goal for RSL in the 5-1 loss against D.C. United at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. on August 31. Prior to joining Real, the Liberian-born Tarley saw great success in the 2005 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup against MLS teams, finding the back of the net twice in the Thunder's 6-4 win over RSL on July 13 and tallying all four Thunder goals in the team's 4-1 win over the Colorado Rapids on August 3.

Kreamalmeyer was the 37th overall pick in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft after impressing the RSL coaching staff during the 2005 adidas/MLS Combine and being named the combine's MVP. The Bradley University product competed in six games, with two starts, and tallied one assist for the 2005 expansion club. Lookingland was the thirteenth overall selection in the 2005 MLS Supplemental Draft and appeared in one game for Real during its 2005 campaign.
Smithfield, Utah native Flores was signed to the developmental roster on January 1, 2005, but never stepped foot onto the regular-season pitch for RSL throughout the 2005 season, while frequently seeing time at right back during the team's reserve division matches. The final player released was Jake Besagno, who spent the 2005 season with the USL First Division Seattle Sounders and was invited by the RSL coaching staff to participate during the first leg of the 2006 preseason training camp.

RSL ADDS FIFTH WIN WITH 3-1 VICTORY OVER D.C. UNITED: Real Salt Lake captured its fifth victory of the preseason to improve its record to 5-1-0 with a 3-1 win over D.C. United today at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. RSL's three goals were tallied by FW Jeff Cunningham in the first half, while the lone goal for United was scored by MF Christian Gomez.
RSL began the first half with St. Kitts-Nevis international FW Atiba Harris picking up a yellow card for a hard tackle in the 4th minute. Just ten minutes later, Real took advantage of its first opportunity on goal turning it into a 1-0 lead. Guatemalan National Team DF Gustavo Cabrera sent a ball down the wing to a streaking Harris who penetrated the box finding Cunningham on the far post. Cunningham one-time volley curled just inside the far post beating D.C. GK Troy Perkins in the 14th minute.

It was not long before United would rally back to tie the score at 1-1. D.C. FW Jaime Moreno was taken down just outside the penalty area incuring a free kick. Gomez and MF Freddy Adu made their cases to take the free kick with Gomez eventually firing a bending shot around the wall into the far upper 90 in the 19th minute.
Cunningham notched his second goal in the 28th minute after collecting the ball at the top of the box. The Montego Bay, Jamaica native was slightly delayed by United DF John Wilson, but broke lose and rocketed a low shot that surprised Perkins to put RSL up 2-0.
Then RSL collected its second yellow card of the game after Cabrera committed a hard tackle in the 30th minute. The card did not slow down Real's momentum with Cunningham completing his hat trick just nine minutes later. Harris slid the ball to the 29-year old Cunningham who used his speed to create space from United MF Clyde Simms before launching a right-footed missile to the far post side netting in the 39th minute.
D.C. tried to close the gap on a late first half free kick by MF Lucio Filomeno, but RSL 'keeper Jay Nolly gathered in the attempt to close out the half 3-1.

The second half began with both sides making several substitutions. It was United that had the first opportunity of the half when FW Andy Metcalf fired a shot on goal, but his blast was saved by Nolly in the 52nd minute. Just three minutes later, RSL added its third yellow card of the match when DF Douglas Sequeira went in on a hard tackle in the 55th minute.
Untied continued to look for its second goal and nearly found it when former RSL trialists MF Joey Worthen flicked a ball behind the RSL defense to FW Jamil Walker. The Pittsford, NY native had a shot on goal, but Nolly came out and made a point blank save to squash the opportunity in the 60th minute. The final chance of the match was in the 80th minute when Walker returned the favor to, but the trialist's left-footed shot missed just wide of the near post.

Scoring Summary:
RSL - Jeff Cunningham (Atiba Harris) '14
RSL - Christian Gomez (unassisted) '19
RSL - Jeff Cunningham (unassisted) '28
RSL - Jeff Cunningham (unassisted) '39

Misconduct Summary:
RSL - Atiba Harris (yellow card) '4
RSL - Gustavo Cabrera (yellow card) '30
RSL - Douglas Sequeira (yellow card) '55

Real Salt Lake - Jay Nolly; Chris Brown (Adolfo Gregorio, 65), Nelson Akwari, Danny Torres (Nikolas Besagno, 65), Gustavo Cabrera (Willis Forko, 65); Mehdi Ballouchy (Ryan Johnson 45), Andy Williams (Diego Walsh, 60), Seth Trembly (Christian Jimenez, 60); Jeff Cunningham (Jamie Watson, 45), Atiba Harris (Jeff Rowland, 45).

D.C. United - Troy Perkins (Nick Rimando, 45); Devon McTavish (Allan Handy, 45), Facundo Erpen (Brandon Prideaux-74), Kenney Bertz (Shawn Kuykendall,45; Pablo Gomez, 77), John Wilson (Stephen deRoux, 45); Josh Gros (Nick Van Sicklen, 45), Clyde Simms (Jeff Carroll-45), Christian Gomez (Rod Dyachenko, 45), Freddy Adu (Joey Worthen, 45); Lucio Filomeno (Jamil Walker, 45), Jaime Moreno (Andy Metcalf, 45).

LONDON (AP) -- Real Madrid has knocked off Manchester United as the world's richest soccer club. Madrid overtook the Red Devils for the first time at the top of the "Football Money League," an independent report released Thursday by the Deloitte accounting firm.
United had been ranked No. 1 since the report began nine seasons ago. Deloitte only uses revenue as its ranking and not the wealth of individual club owners.
Real Madrid increased its revenue by 17 percent to $328 million for the 2004-05 season despite going a second straight year without a major trophy. United earned $293 million in the same period.
AC Milan was third with $279 million, followed by Italian champion Juventus with $273 million and English champion Chelsea at $263 million.
"The mainstay of Real's revenue growth is not match-day revenues, as we have seen in many of the UK clubs, or broadcasting revenue, as we have seen -- and continue to see -- in Italy, but strong progress in realizing their commercial potential," the report said.
Madrid's revenue doubled in four years despite increasingly poor performances. It was second in last year's Spanish league and was eliminated from the Champions League at the first knockout stage.
Commercial revenue including sponsorship, merchandising and licensing contributed 45 percent of Madrid's total income. Madrid made $62 million more in commercial revenue than Manchester United and $74 million more than FC Barcelona.
Manchester United's revenue fell because of a reduction in broadcast income, partly because of its exit from the Champions League at the first knockout round. However, Deloitte said United was one of "the foremost brands in the industry and are still clearly the most profitable club in terms of day to day operations."
Three clubs dropped out of last year's top 20 -- Marseille, Aston Villa and Rangers -- and were replaced by Everton, Lyon and Valencia. Only 13 clubs have appeared in all nine editions of the report: Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Inter, Juventus, Lazio, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Manchester United, AC Milan, AS Roma, Newcastle and Tottenham.

LOS ANGELES (TICKER) -- Mexico goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez made the kind of mistake that would cast him as a national goat if it had happened in a World Cup match. Luckily for him, it was just a friendly.
Sanchez's error resulted in Lee Dong-Gook's 15th-minute tally, which proved to be enough as the Korea Republic posted a 1-0 triumph over Mexico in a World Cup tuneup Wednesday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Mexico had been dominating the early part of the game when Sanchez made an easy save of Lee Chun-Soo's feeble attempt shot. However, instead of waiting for the goal area to clear, the netminder casually flipped the ball forward toward the penalty spot. Dong-Gook pounced on the loose ball and blasted it past the stunned Sanchez.
"Of course I was surprised when I saw the loose ball," Dong-Gook said. "I was about to head up the field when I saw him toss the ball forward like it was a goal kick, but the ball was in play."
"It was unfortunate for us," Mexico coach Ricardo Lavolpe said. "We played well and had a lot of chances. But we made the mistake and they capitalized on it."
Despite having a large majority of the 64,128 fans on their side, the Mexicans never really recovered as the Koreans were able to absorb their charges then struck quickly and often threatened with counter-attacks.
The game marked an end to Korea's 41-day overseas training camp in preparation for the 2006 World Cup, which kicks off in June. The 2002 semifinalists will play in Group G with France, Switzerland and Togo.
Mexico, the seventh-ranked team in the world, will play in Group D with Angola, Iran and Portugal in the championship tournament.

PARIS (AFP) - France captain Zinedine Zidane confirmed on his internet site that he will end his sparkling career in the next 18 months, but first he wants to win the World Cup.
Zidane has won all the major honours in world football, including leading his country to World Cup victory on home soil in 1998 by scoring two goals in France's 3-0 demolition of favourites Brazil.
Zidane also scored the winning goal for Spanish club Real Madrid in the 2002 UEFA Champions League final, firing in a spectacular volley against Bayer Leverkusen.
But he told his website that he wants to make the most of what remains of his career and then retire at the top.
"I have another six months or a year, it's true," he said. "At most, I have another year and a half. I am closer to the end than the beginning.
"I am eager to make the most of my last moments as a footballer and to live these moments to the full. Otherwise, afterwards, I would be left with regrets."
Last month, Zidane told French television channel Canal+ that he wanted to finish the season and then focus on the World Cup before making any decisions on the next 12 months.
Now he is keen to make up for France's World Cup 2002 and Euro 2004 disasters.
In the 2002 World Cup, France failed to make it out of the group stages when faced with Uruguay, Senegal and Denmark.
With Zidane injured for their first two games and only a peripheral figure in their last, France failed to score a single goal and crashed out with two defeats and a draw.
Two years on and they fell at the first knock-out hurdle when faced with eventual champions Greece.
"We have a good team, but we said that as well in 2002 and 2004. Therefore, we must not make the same mistakes," he said.
"We have to prepare well and be ready. The French team can be competitive if we all arrive at 100 per cent.
"In 2002, there were so many negative things that happened that in the end, on the field, it went the way it did.
"Personally, I am a little sad about it, particularly 2004 because in 2004 we were well prepared.
"We had a good team and that's why our defeat was hard to bear. It was not for no reason that I stopped."
The pain of losing that quarter-final to Greece prompted Zidane, along with several other senior players, to announce the end of his international career.
But only a year later he returned from the cold as France struggled to qualify for the World Cup and his presence was felt as the former champions of Europe and the world eventually won their qualification group.

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) - Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has been recalled to Ghana's squad for a friendly against fellow World Cup finalists Mexico in Dallas next month.
Essien missed the African Nations Cup finals in Egypt this month because of injury
A statement on the Ghana Football Association website on Tuesday said Essien would return to the side along with Udinese's Sulley Muntari, who was also ruled out of the Nations Cup.
In a major overhaul of the squad by coach Ratomir Dujkovic, 10 of the 23 players from the Nations Cup squad have been dropped from the team for the match with eight new faces added.
The match is the first for Ghana after their early exit in Egypt, where they lost two of their opening round matches, and marks the start of their preparations for the World Cup finals in Germany this year.
There are recalls for Germany-based Otto Addo, recently returned from a long-standing injury and Isaac Boakye and a call-up for Preston North End forward Patrick Agyemang, whose only previous cap was in a friendly against Nigeria in Abuja three years ago.
Abdul Razak Ibrahim, Alex Tachie Mensah and Baffour Gyan have also been added to the squad. Ghana have been drawn in group at the World Cup finals against the Czech Republic, Italy and the United States.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Sammy Adjei (Mohadon Sports Ashdod, Israel), George Owu (AshantiGold)
Defenders: Issah Ahmed (Randers FC, Denmark), John Mensah (Stade Rennes, France) John Paintsil (Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel), Emmanuel Pappoe, (Hapoel Kfar Sava, Israel), Samuel Osei Kuffour (AS Roma, Italy), Hans Sarpei (VfL Wolfsburg, Germany)

Midfielders: Otto Addo (FC Mainz, Germany), Stephen Appiah (Fenerbache, Turkey), Haminu Dramani (Red Star Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro), Michael Essien (Chelsea, England), Abdul Razak Ibrahim (Maccabi Netanya, Israel), Sulley Muntari (Udinese, Italy), Alex Tachie Mensah (St Gallen, Switzerland)

Strikers: Baba Adamu (Krylya Sovietov Samara, Russia), Patrick Agyemang (Preston North End, England), Matthew Amoah (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Isaac Boakye (Arminia Bielefeld, Germany), Baffour Gyan (Dynamo Moscow, Russia).

By Simon Baskett.

MADRID, (Reuters) - Real Madrid were unable to complete an epic comeback victory over Real Zaragoza despite a storming 4-0 win at the Bernabeu in the return leg of their King's Cup semi-final on Tuesday.
Real, who were crushed 6-1 in last week's first leg, gave Zaragoza an almighty scare as they raced into a 3-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes courtesy of quick-fire goals from Brazilian trio Cicinho, Robinho and Ronaldo.
Yet another Brazilian, Roberto Carlos, made it 4-0 just after the hour with a trademark rocket shot to set up a grandstand finish and Zaragoza looked as though they were about to fold as they struggled to stem the tide of Real attacks.
But despite a nerve-riddled performance in the final half hour the visitors managed to hang on to their narrow lead and claim a 6-5 aggregate victory that earned them a place in their third Cup final in six seasons.
Zaragoza will face either Espanyol or Deportivo Coruna in the final which is due to take place in April.
"We knew something like this might happen and conceding three goals in 10 minutes made things hard, but we managed to hold out and achieve what we wanted," said Zaragoza coach Victor Munoz.
Real, who have not won a major trophy since June 2003, had made set their sights on winning the Cup this season, but in the end fell just short of achieving their objective.
Some 70,000 fans had been drawn to the Bernabeu by talk of a Real Madrid comeback and they were brought to their feet inside the first minute when Brazilian fullback Cicinho fired a thundering 25-metre drive into the back of the net to put them 1-0 up.
The fans were still celebrating when Real snatched a second, this time Robinho steered home at the far post after Ronaldo had clipped the ball across the area from the right.
And they were in a state of near delirium in the 10th minute when Ronaldo made it 3-0 as he stabbed the ball into the net from 10 metres out after David Beckham had swept in an inch-perfect cross from the right.

STUNNED
Zaragoza were stunned by Real's whirlwind start and nerves appeared to get the better of them as they made a series of errors in midfield and looked uncharacteristically shaky in defence.
They did manage one dangerous attack when Cani wafted a cross into the area, but Real keeper Iker Casillas produced a brilliant reflex save to turn Ewerthon's point-blank header over the bar.
Opposite number Cesar, Casillas's former stand-in at Real, made an equalling good save to stop Real going 4-0 up when he blocked a close-range effort from Zinedine Zidane midway through the half.
Real kept up the breathless pace for the remainder of the half, but Zaragoza managed to keep them at bay until the break.
A nervous Zaragoza looked even more edgy when they stepped out for the second half and limited themselves to kicking the ball out of play as they were unable to stem the tide of Real Madrid attacks.
They conceded a fourth just after the hour courtesy of yet another of their Brazilian players, this time Roberto Carlos send a trademark rocket shot fizzing into the back of the net following a free-kick routine.
Zaragoza looked as though they would cave in completely as they were pinned back in their area by wave after wave of Real attacks.
Zidane almost snatched the crucial fifth when he got his foot to a swirling Beckham cross, but his shot squirmed onto the bar and Zaragoza hung on to claim their place in the final.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wrote off his side's chances of claiming the top-two finish in the Premiership required to give them automatic qualification for the Champions League after their 1-0 defeat at Liverpool.
The balance of power has finally swung the way of the Merseysiders with this victory, which cements their place in third spot and gives them a 10-point lead over the Gunners.
And with Arsenal now four points behind Spurs in fourth spot, Wenger knows his faltering side are in a desperate battle to qualify for the Champions League next term.
A goal from Luis Garcia three minutes from the end secured Liverpool only their second victory over Arsenal in the last 11 attempts."Automatic qualification in the top two, certainly not, but qualification is still possible. But it will be hard," said the Arsenal boss."The Champions League is important, the reality is there so we just have to fight harder next time. "At the moment we are struggling for confidence and that can effect the senior players as well as the younger ones."Defeats by West Ham, Everton and now Liverpool also mean Arsenal have lost three of their last five games. "What can I say? We have lost another away game 1-0 and it is happening too often," said Wenger.
"We need to recover now and find the right balance to go to Spain for the Champions League, we must find a way to put Real Madrid under pressure."Wenger added: "We had possession and were punished when we gave it away. This has happened to us a lot away from home, losing 1-0 when we have not taken chances and find ourselves hanging on."It is a difference between a great season and a bad season, we are being punished for our form away from home. It was all down to long balls in the end and that is difficult to take."

Ruud van Nistelrooy insists he is fully committed to Manchester United despite speculation suggesting Italian giants AC Milan are hovering.
Rumours circulating in Italy have indicated that should current Holland boss Marco van Basten be installed at Milan as coach following the World Cup then the United striker will move to the San Siro.
But the Dutchman is adamant that he is happy at Old Trafford and is not seeking a transfer.
Van Nistelrooy, 29, told the Corriere dello Sport: "I don't want to say anything about Milan because the fact is that United are in my heart. "My only aim is to stay for several more years in Manchester." However, van Nistelrooy has admitted his frustration that he has not won more honours since arriving at Old Trafford in 2001. The Dutchman has only two winners' medals - Premiership and FA Cup.

United eye move for Nolan.

Manchester United are reportedly interested in signing Bolton's goalscoring midfielder Kevin Nolan.Sir Alex Ferguson has been impressed by the 23-year-old's performances this term and the Scot apparently sees Nolan as the long-term successor to the departed Roy Keane in the Old Trafford engine room.
Nolan - who has netted nine times this term - is under contract at the Reebok Stadium until 2009, and could cost as much as £10million.
But Fergie has reportedly been told by United owners the Glazer family that he has cash to spend this summer.
Nolan, who is pushing for a place in Sven-Goran Eriksson's England plans, would fit the bill as he seeks to build a title-winning team.
Other names mentioned have been Deportivo hard man Aldo Duscher and Lyon star Mahamadou Diarra. But Nolan has already produced an impressive CV by starring against United in the past. He fired home a superb goal in a 2-1 Old Trafford win for the Trotters in October 2001, and followed up with the winner at Old Trafford a season later.

BARCELONA, Spain (Ticker) - Barcelona vice president Ferran Soriano has denied claiming the club has agreed to a deal to sign Arsenal striker Thierry Henry in the summer.
Henry's contract expires in June 2007 and he has yet to sign a new contract with the Premiership club, leading to speculation he could be heading for the Nou Camp.
The rumors gathered pace on Monday when Barcelona daily Sport claimed a deal had already been struck with the French international.
But Soriano said, "We have made no contact with Thierry Henry and no contract has been agreed with him."
Soriano stressed, though, that the club would be looking to strengthen its squad at the end of the season, and dismissed claims that Portuguese midfielder Deco would be sacrificed to fund new arrivals. "We do have the financial capacity to make new signings in the summer and we do not have to sell," he added. "We have no plans to sell Deco."

By Mitch Phillips.

LONDON, (Reuters) - Liverpool and Arsenal meet in a Premier League match at Anfield on Tuesday that begins a season-defining spell for both clubs.
Arsenal, out of both domestic cup competitions, are currently outside the top four in the league and desperately need to win Tuesday's game in hand on fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur to close the four-point gap on their neighbours.
Then they can turn their attention to their only chance of a trophy, slim though it may be, when they visit Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League knockout round tie.
Liverpool are better-placed all round than their London rivals but also face a demanding week.
After Arsenal they host Manchester United in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Saturday before travelling to Portugal to take on Benfica in the Champions League.
"This period coming up is very important to us," Liverpool manager Raphael Benitez told the club's website.
"To finish in the top four is very important financially for us as well as Arsenal. We know what finishing in the top four, staying in the Champions League and doing well in the FA Cup means in terms of money.
"It is a vicious circle. To gain access to the best players you have to be in the top four and in the Champions League, otherwise they will not come.
"These games are going to be difficult for us, but the important thing is that at least we are involved in big games at this stage of the season. After playing Arsenal, Manchester United and Benfica, we will have a clear idea of how our season will go."
Liverpool looked well set to claim second place in the Premier League behind champions-elect Chelsea until conceding a last-minute winner to Manchester United last month.
That setback was the start of a run of three defeats and a draw that was brought to an end by Saturday's 1-0 win at Wigan Athletic but which handed the second-place initiative to United.
A win for Liverpool would take them to 51 points, three behind United in the race for automatic qualification for the Champions League.
A youthful-looking Arsenal scraped a 1-1 home draw with Bolton Wanderers on Saturday as they remain a shadow of their former selves.

REYES RELIEF
Hard-hit by injuries, there was some good news for manager Arsene Wenger when it was discovered that forward Jose Antonio Reyes has not, as feared, broken his leg and could be available for the Real Madrid game.
Reyes was carried off after being caught by a two-footed challenge by Bolton's Abdoulaye Faye but after an X-ray he was cleared of serious damage.
"Luckily it's only bruised but it could have been worse. I am grateful I haven't broken anything," Reyes told Monday's Sun newspaper.
"It's going to be treated as a bad knock and I will do everything possible to be ready for the game against Real Madrid.
"I wouldn't miss that game for anything in the world," added the Spanish international.

By Martyn Herman.

LONDON, (Reuters) - Champions Chelsea were left licking their wounds on Saturday after a 3-0 defeat at lowly Middlesbrough, their worst defeat under coach Jose Mourinho.
While the reverse, only Chelsea's second in the league this season, is unlikely to re-ignite the title race, it did at least apply the brakes to the seemingly unstoppable Londoners who began the day 15 points clear of Manchester United.
It also relieved the pressure on Middlesbrough coach Steve McClaren, who has come under intense pressure after six home games without a win plunged his side into relegation trouble.
"We lost at Manchester City and we didn't deserve it, we lost at Manchester United and didn't deserve it, we lost today and did deserve it," Mourinho told the BBC, referring to the only other league defeats during his Stamford Bridge reign.
"When you lose it's always a bad day, especially when you don't lose a lot."
The defeat equalled the worst loss of Mourinho's coaching career, a 3-0 defeat against Belenenses while in charge of Porto in 2002 and a 3-0 defeat by CS Maritimo when he was at the helm of Benfica in 2000.
To make matters worse for Chelsea, William Gallas limped off injured during the first half and could be a doubt for the Champions League last 16 clash against Barcelona on Feb. 22.
Boro were given a dream start when Fabio Rochemback took advantage of some sloppy play by Michael Essien to plant a shot past Petr Cech inside two minutes.
Stewart Downing doubled Boro's lead on the stroke of halftime and Nigerian Aiyegbeni Yakubu rubbed salt in Chelsea's wounds with a third midway through the second half.
McClaren, who was confronted by an angry fan ripping up his season ticket in front of him during last week's 4-0 home thrashing by Aston Villa, said the win was fully deserved.
"On the day we were the better team," he told Sky Sports. "Despite all the criticism, the players have stayed together and the spirit has always been good. Today we got out just reward.
"It was the manner of the victory that was so pleasing, against a very good side.
"I said to the players the most important thing against the top teams, is that you have to score first. We did that and defended very well and hit them on the break. We always looked dangerous." Victory lifted above West Bromwich Albion into 16th place, eight points above the relegation zone.

MANCHESTER, England (Ticker) - Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted Manchester United is not attempting to sign American teenager Freddy Adu.
The 16-year-old long has been tipped for stardom and is hoping to force his way into the United States' World Cup squad this summer before making a move to one of the major European leagues in time for next season.
Chelsea is believed to be monitoring Adu's progress in Major League Soccer with D.C. United, while the teenager's agent, Richard Motzkin, claimed on Sunday that United was interested in luring him to the Premiership as well.
Ferguson admits Red Devils officials have watched Adu but he declared there is no immediate chance of the youngster joining United.
"We are not interested in Freddie Adu," the Scot told MUTV. "We have watched him as a youngster, but there is no interest in him at the moment."
Any attempt to sign Adu would have to go through MLS, which owns Adu's contract - and there would be an obvious difficulty in securing a U.K. work permit for a player who only recently has been capped by his country.

West Ham crush Birmingham, rise to sixth.

LONDON, (Reuters) - West Ham United recorded their seventh consecutive victory on Monday with a 3-0 home defeat of Birmingham City to move into the Premier League's top six
Marlon Harewood struck twice for the high-flying Hammers, giving them the lead after 11 minutes and doubling it after 63 when he tapped in after his penalty was saved by Maik Taylor.
Big-money signing Dean Ashton completed the rout after 65 minutes, heading in from close range after good work by Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun. West Ham have now won their last five league games, their best run in the top flight for 10 years.
West Ham, promoted last year from the second division, have 41 points from 26 matches, level with fifth-placed Arsenal and only four points behind Tottenham Hotspur who occupy the fourth Champions League spot.
Champions Chelsea lead the table by 12 points from Manchester United despite a 3-0 defeat at Middlesbrough on Saturday. Birmingham remain locked in the relegation zone in 18th place with 20 points from 25 games, six points from safety.
Monday's match was preceded by a minute's silence for former West Ham and England manager Ron Greenwood who died last week aged 84.

By Daren Butler.

ISTANBUL, (Reuters) - Players from heavily indebted Galatasaray boycotted training on Wednesday after hearing two of the Istanbul club's foreign players had received their salaries, media reports said.
A club statement said senior players had held a meeting with the club's management to discuss their financial difficulties.
State-run Anatolian news agency said players met at the club's training ground and decided to stay away from the morning session because they had not been paid for four months.
Plans for a boycott first emerged in media reports in late December after the club failed to honour a pledge to make the wage payments. A planned protest failed to materialise at the club's January training camp.
"Our young players attended the morning training while our other players explained their financial difficulties in a meeting with the management," the club said on its website.
"Our management board is continuing its efforts to resolve the financial difficulties faced by our players, which they have communicated to our management in a way befitting the traditions of Galatasaray," it said.
It added the players who missed the morning session joined training later in the day.

PLAYERS UPSET
Newspapers and websites quoted Galatasaray striker Necati Ates as saying the Turkish players had been upset at reports that Croatian defender Stjepan Tomas and Serbian midfielder Sasa Ilic had been paid.
"That's the way things are in Turkey. Foreign players are always made the priority on this issue. Why do they get paid before us? Don't we do the same job?" the CNN Turk website quoted Necati as saying.
Galatasaray also issued a statement in response to media criticism of a campaign which it launched this month to raise funds from supporters as a way of easing its financial plight.
"The media descriptions of a 'charity collection campaign' are inappropriate. It is just a matter of businessmen and fans who support Galatasaray making donations in line with our club's status as a publicly beneficial association," it said.
The club has published details of bank accounts to which they have asked supporters to send donations.
A Bugun newspaper report said the campaign had fallen short of the $12-million target after $1 million was raised in the first day through donations from six people.
Galatasaray decided at a general meeting at the end of last year to put on hold the chairman's plan to sell land belonging to the club in Istanbul to raise funds.
The 2000 UEFA Cup winners play at a run-down stadium in the city and the chairman has faced criticism from within the club for failing to modernise it or push through plans for a new stadium. Galatasaray are second in the Turkish first division on 45 points, four points behind Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce.

LONDON (AFP) - Chelsea kept their dreams of a treble-winning season alive by booking their place in the last 16 of the FA Cup with a 4-1 fourth round replay win at home to Premiership rivals Everton.
Chelsea were 3-0 up at half-time with Dutch winger Arjen Robben putting the English champions, 15 points clear at the top of the Premier League, ahead.
Frank Lampard made it 2-0 from the penalty spot in the 36th minute after Shaun Wright-Phillips was fouled in the box and three minutes later England midfielder Lampard provided a cross which Hernan Crespo nodded in.
Everton pulled a goal back thanks to Mikel Arteta's 72-minute penalty after Robert Huth handled but minutes later Chelsea captain John Terry made it 4-1.
Chelsea, who face Spanish giants Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League, continue their FA Cup campaign at home to League One side Colchester later this month.
In the day's other fourth round replay Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's goal was good enough to give Premiership strugglers Middlesbrough a 1-0 win over Championship outfit Coventry at the Riverside. Boro's reward was a match against another side from English football's second tier, Preston North End.

By Simon Baskett.

MADRID, (Reuters) - Real Zaragoza say their tie is not won despite a 6-1 humiliation of Real Madrid in the first leg of their King's Cup semi-final at La Romareda on Wednesday.
"We played a brilliant game and the players were extraordinary in every respect," said Zaragoza boss Victor Munoz after the match. "Our performance bordered on perfection.
"But I honestly don't believe the tie is over. Madrid are a great team and deserve all the respect in the world. We are optimistic, of course, but the tie hasn't been decided yet."
Zaragoza, who disposed of Barcelona in the previous round and scored four goals in 12 minutes in their 4-3 win over Real Betis in the league on Sunday, tore the Real defence to shreds with high-speed attacking.
The hero of the night was Argentine striker Diego Milito who assured himself a place in the history books by scoring four goals in a game against Real.
The 26-year-old notched his hat-trick in less than 20 minutes and although Real pulled one back before the break, he scored a fourth 10 minutes into the second half.
"It was a fantastic match," the Argentine told reporters after the game.
"Scoring four goals is something I'd never even dreamed of, let alone doing it against Real Madrid. We played simply, quickly and moved the ball well but we can't relax ahead of the next game."
Milito's Brazilian strike partner Ewerthon got in the act by scoring the other two goals, the second a wonderful swirling half volley from outside the area.
Together the two players have hit 32 goals in all competitions this season and they are both making strong bids to elbow their way into their World Cup squads.

DESPERATE BLOW
The defeat could have been even heavier had it not been for the woodwork and a couple of fine saves from Iker Casillas.
For Real, who had gone into the match on a seven-match winning run, defeat was a desperate blow to their hopes of ending their three-year trophy drought.
Coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro had to recognise the superiority of their opponents.
"Zaragoza played an exceptional game, they were phenomenal and were much better than us," he said.
But the former reserve team coach said he was clinging to the hope that Real could mount an heroic comeback in next week's second leg at the Bernabeu.
"For the cowards the tie is over but in my view we have a team with enough pride, guts and talent to believe that we can turn it round. Just as Zaragoza had a wonderful night, I believe we can have one too.
"This team has proved they can fight back after difficult situations and I have great confidence in my players."

By Daren Butler.

ISTANBUL, (Reuters) - Turkish media responded angrily on Wednesday to Turkey being ordered to play their next six home matches abroad and behind closed doors, saying it reflected political hostility to their country in Europe.
The sanctions imposed by soccer's governing body FIFA followed a brawl after a qualifier against Switzerland in Istanbul that ended Turkey's hopes of reaching the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Turkey has vowed to appeal against the ruling, which the country's sports minister described as politically motivated.
"A clash of civilisations," said a headline in the Islamic-leaning Yeni Safak newspaper.
"The increasing political hostility in Europe is reflected in the decisions of FIFA's disciplinary committee."
Swiss media said Turkey had been let off lightly -- there had been speculation the team could be banned from the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign after the violent scenes.
Mass daily "Blick" said: "Verdict is ridiculously soft".
The sanctions, which apply to official matches and not friendlies, are among the most severe handed out to a national association and Turkish papers said they unfairly punished fans.
In effect they mean Turkey must play their entire qualification programme for the 2008 European championship abroad. They are with European champions Greece, Norway, Bosnia, Hungary, Moldova and Malta in qualifying Group C.

PROTEST LETTER
"What is the spectator's crime? An unjust punishment from FIFA," the daily Sabah newspaper said in a front-page headline.
The paper published FIFA's phone and fax numbers and called on readers to send a protest letter to FIFA president Sepp Blatter, providing a sample letter in English. Blatter is Swiss.
"It is clear that you don't like to see our country in Switzerland at Euro 2008 but I am sure we will succeed in qualifying for the finals. We will be there," the letter said.
FIFA banned two Turkish players, Alpay Ozalan and Emre Belozoglu, for six matches and Switzerland's Benjamin Huggel who admitted kicking Turkish assistant coach Mehmet Ozdilek.
Turkey were also fined 200,000 Swiss francs ($154,200). A number of other players and officials from both teams received fines and suspensions.
"FIFA did not see the tears in our eyes. We were nearly expelled," said a headline in Milliyet newspaper.
Turkey's football federation said it would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
"I describe this decision as unacceptable. This is a political decision rather than a sports decision," Turkey's sports minister Mehmet Ali Sahin told NTV news channel.
Switzerland won November's two-legged playoff to qualify for the Cup starting in June. Swiss media said Turkey had got what it deserved but many felt the punishment had not been tough enough.
"Fifa: Soft verdict against aggressive Turks", said mass daily "20 minuten" on its front page.
Geneva daily Le Temps wrote in an editorial that the decision was a masquerade because it implied that only two Turkish players were involved and made Huggel as guilty as them even though he was only reacting to a kick from Streller.

Soccernet.

Turkey today felt the full wrath of FIFA after they were given severe punishments for the violent clashes involving players and officials at the end of the World Cup play-off against Switzerland. Following a disciplinary hearing, FIFA have ordered Turkey to play their next six competitive matches behind closed doors on neutral ground. Newcastle midfielder Emre and former Aston Villa defender Alpay, now at Cologne, have been banned for six matches for their part in the clashes in Istanbul on November 16.
Turkey lost the play-off and after the final whistle players and officials were involved in a mass brawl on the pitch and in the tunnel. The Turkish FA have also been fined £88,300 (200,000 Swiss francs). Switzerland international Benjamin Huggel has been banned for six matches after he was filmed kicking out at Turkey assistant coach Mehmet Ozdilek, who has himself been banned from all football-related activity for a year.
The violence continued in the tunnel and Swiss defender Stephane Grichting was taken to hospital and needed a catheter inserted after being kicked in the stomach during a free-for-all. FIFA president Sepp Blatter had promised 'we will take tough action' after the scenes and, in terms of international teams, the sanctions are unprecedented.
The disciplinary committee also announced two-match bans for Turkish player Serkan Balci and Swiss physio Stephan Meyer. The Turkish FA and those players given six-match bans can appeal against the punishments and go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne as a last resort. FIFA launched a widespread investigation the week after the match and interviewed 22 people about the incidents as witnesses or defendants. Grichting was unable to attend the hearings for medical reasons and submitted his statement in writing.

Punishments
• Turkey ordered to play next six home matches behind closed doors in a neutral venue in another country and to pay all organisational costs with regard to these six matches.
• Turkish FA fined £88,300 plus procedural costs of £8,830.
• Alpay Ozalan (Turkey player) - Suspended for Turkey's next six matches. Fined £6,622 plus costs of £440.
• Emre Belozoglu (Turkey player) - Suspended for Turkey's next six matches. Fined £6,622 plus costs of £440.
• Serkan Balci (Turkey player) - Suspended for Turkey's next two matches. Fined £2,200 plus costs of £220.
• Mehmet Ozdilek (Turkey assistant coach) - Banned from taking part in any football-related activity for 12 months. Fined £6,622 plus costs of £440.
• Benjamin Huggel (Switzerland player) - Suspended for Switzerland's next six matches. Fined £6,622 plus costs of £220.
• Stephan Meyer (Switzerland physiotherapist) - Suspended for Switzerland's next two matches. Fined £2,870 plus costs of £220.

DALLAS (AP) -- Kenny Cooper has signed with FC Dallas after being released by Manchester United last month.
The 21-year-old forward, a Baltimore native who moved to Dallas when he was 14, joined United in 2003, but never played for the club. He was loaned to English club Oldham Athletic and Academica Coimbra in Portugal before his Jan. 31 release.
"It's not every day that a player of Kenny Cooper's caliber leaves one of the top club teams in the world to pursue his dream of playing professional soccer in his hometown," Michael Hitchcock, FC Dallas' president and general manager, said in a statement Monday. "This is a great day for FC Dallas, Major League Soccer and the entire Dallas Soccer Community."
Cooper is the son of former Dallas Tornado player Kenny Cooper, Sr.
The details of Cooper's contract were not released.

Story by Covsupport.

Stern John is unhappy with his last minute booking against Brighton on Saturday. The striker has found form since coming back from loan,scoring twice at home to Derby whom he was loaned to and away at Preston and Hull City, has now picked up five cautions and will miss Saturday's trip to Watford. John said: "I am really disappointed with the referee's decision. I thought it was a clear foul because I put the ball through his legs and tried to get round him. "So this kills me for Saturday's game at Watford which is disappointing because I feel I am flying these days and I just want to keep playing."

By Michael Lynch.

One Australian-based player from the Caribbean — Sydney FC's Dwight Yorke — is definitely going to the World Cup finals this year, as captain of Trinidad and Tobago.
Another, South Melbourne striker Kevin Nelson, concedes that it will be a huge job for him to force his way into the reckoning for Trinidad's squad for Germany. But he is determined to give it his best shot, starting tomorrow when his club kicks off its campaign in the Vodafone Cup against Heidelberg.
A more realistic target for Nelson, who turned 27 yesterday, is to use this year's 26-round cup as a platform to show the country's A-League coaches that he has something to offer them as a striker.
"It will be hard for Leo Beenhakker (Trinidad coach) to see much of me, and Dwight Yorke has told me it would be better for me to be playing in the A-League," he said yesterday.
"I was trialling for several months with Adelaide, and John Kosmina was interested in signing me but there … was no space for me.
"Then Pierre Littbarski wanted to sign me for Sydney as an injury replacement for David Zdrilic but I could not get the right visa.
"All I can do is play well here and score goals and maybe the national team coach will look at me and maybe I can get into an A-League team for next season."
The lure of the A-League is strong for many players embarking on the newly named state competition, which began last night.
Also playing in tomorrow's South v Heidelberg match of the round at Olympic Village (which organisers are hoping will attract 10,000 fans after last year's game brought a similar number to Bob Jane Stadium) is Heidelberg midfielder-striker Yusuf Yusuf, another with ambitions to step up to the A-League next campaign.
Yusuf has been part of Melbourne Victory's training squad for the second half of the season and believes that there is not much between the best players in competitions such as the state cup and the fringe players in the A-League.
"It's crucial for me to have a good season this year," he said. "I don't think there is a lot of difference at all. There are a lot of capable players in the Premier League who could play in the A-League, I think."

TOKYO (AFP) - Former Manchester United star Dwight Yorke wants to play in Japan for a few months from the end of Australia's A-League season until the World Cup in Germany in June, a press report said.
The Sydney FC striker, who has led Trinidad and Tobago to their first World Cup finals, told the major Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun that he had received offers from a number of J-League sides for the short-term duty.
"I want to play in Japan for about three months" before the World Cup break, the 34-year-old Yorke was quoted as saying by the daily Tuesday.
Sydney FC have finished second in the regular season and entered the four-way final series in the A-League scheduled for February 10 to March 5.
The new J-League season starts on March 4 and lasts until early December.
Yorke joined the Sydney-siders last year after a brilliant career in England where he rose to prominence at Aston Villa but struggled in spells at Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City since leaving Old Trafford in 2002.
Playing in an uncharacteristic central midfield role, he scored a goal in Sydney's 2-1 win over Egypt's Al Ahly in the fifth place playoff of the world club championships here last December.
The former Manchester United striker, 34, believes midfield is now his position and told the Daily Telegraph: "It is a fact that if I don't score I like to set someone up these days.
"While I played up front for such a long time and it was my job to score goals, I get more satisfaction playing there (in midfield) now. It's always something I wanted to do and thought I would go to and, at 34, I think I'm pretty much in good nick. "That's where I'm now playing for my country. Why not learn and gain more experience out here before I go to the World Cup? At least when I get there I'm prepared."

ROME, (Reuters) - Players and staff at Inter Milan have accused Serie A match officials of being biased towards Juventus after the Serie A leaders' controversial 1-0 win against Udinese at the weekend.
The result maintained Juve's eight-point cushion over Inter before their top-of-the-table clash at the San Siro on Sunday.
Inter were especially angry over Alessandro Del Piero's winning goal, which video replays showed was scored from a clearly offside position.
They also pointed out several other incidents that had favoured Juve, including a misjudged call for offside when Udinese striker Vincenzo Iaquinta went through alone on goal early on, the 37th-minute sending off of Udinese midfielder Sulley Muntari for a non-existent foul on Pavel Nedved and a rejected appeal for a penalty.
"It's impossible that Juventus gets favourable treatment from the referees," Inter coach Roberto Mancini said with deep irony. "I've seen the television images and I say that Del Piero's goal was good, Muntari's red card right and Vidigal's penalty appeal without any basis at all."
His bitterness was shared by the club's president Giacinto Facchetti.
"Why should we be amazed? Juve has so many resources it can draw on," he said.
Juventus's director general Luciano Moggi hit back at the accusations, pointing out that his side had the best attack in the division, despite being given only one penalty all season.
"In football a referee can make a mistake just like a striker in front of goal. The important thing is to overdramatise the situation," he said.
Some of Inter's players, however, could not hide their frustration.
Midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron claimed the bias towards the team from Turin was long-established.
"Those of us that have been playing in Italy for 10 years are used to it," he said.
"The whole thing is absurd and in all this time nothing has been done to change it."
Inter captain Javier Zanetti was more moderate, but said he hoped the refereeing was of a higher standard when they played Juventus on Sunday.
"Well done to Juventus for winning thanks to a goal scored in offside. These things never happen to us," he said.
"In 11 years in Italy I've seen it all -- sometimes even worse than this. But all we can do is believe that referees act in good faith, otherwise we couldn't continue playing.
"As far as Sunday's match goes, I'd like it if (Pierluigi) Collina could act as referee. Unfortunately he's no longer (refereeing)."

LONDON (AFP) - Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp has questioned Arsenal's sale of influential midfielder Patrick Vieira, and moreso why the Frenchman was not replaced at Highbury.
Arsenal, much like the rest of the English Premiership contenders, have been playing second fiddle to Jose Mourinho's domineering Chelsea side this season as the champions charge towards a second consecutive title.
The Gunners curently sit in fifth place, and Bergkamp believes part of the reason in their dip in form lies in Arsene Wenger's agreement to allow Vieira to join Juventus at the end of last season.
"Arsene is intelligent enough to know what that did to the team [in selling Vieira]. People saw how influential Patrick was on the pitch, dominating midfield by himself," Bergkamp told The Times.
"But people also forget how he was off the pitch, how impressive he was in the dressing room, and how important he was for every other player, young and old. I think a lot of people underestimated that."
The 36-year-old added: "When you hear he is going to be sold you try to think of a team without him - and you have the confidence in the board and the coach that they have something in mind.
"You can't just let Patrick go without having someone coming in. But that doesn't happen. You respect Arsene for what he has done; that is for sure, but to tell you the truth you thought something would happen - and nothing did. So slowly you get into the new season and you realise this is going to be a tough one."
Bergkamp admitted the team did not expect to be in this position after Vieira's departure.
"We didn't expect the dip to be this big. It is okay to take one step and two steps forward, but we are not really sure if it just one step back at the moment. It seems more. Somehow we got into a transitional year, and it wasn't necessary."

ZURICH (AFP) - FIFA's disciplinary committee kicked off a final two-day meeting on the violent incidents which marred the Turkey-Switzerland World Cup qualifier in Istanbul last November.
Decisions by the committee headed by deputy chairman Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa of Bahrain were expected to be made public "in due course" by press release, world football's governing body said.
Officials indicated they were likely to be released in the days after the meeting.
The match on November 16 last year was marred after the final whistle by fighting involving players and officials that spilled over into the tunnel and dressing room area, leaving one Swiss player injured.
There have also been allegations of harassment against the Swiss side once they set foot in Turkey.
Turkey won the game 4-2, but failed to qualify for the World Cup finals on the away goals rule, having lost the first leg 2-0 in Bern.
FIFA's probe into ethics, disciplinary and security violations has dragged on through several hearings of some 30 witnesses and people involved in the incidents, amid warnings of tough sanctions.
On Monday the committee was due to consider the cases of three Turkish players -- Alpay Ozalan, Emre Belozoglu and Serkan Balci -- as well as assistant coach Mehmet Ozdilek, and Switzerland's physiotherapist Stephan Meyer and midfielder Benjamin Huggel.
The "main proceedings" against the Turkish Football Federation were due on Tuesday, FIFA said in a statement.
In an initial outburst, FIFA president Sepp Blatter -- who is Swiss -- had threatened to ban Turkey from the 2010 World Cup, but he is not involved in the disciplinary proceeding under the body's regulations.
The other committee members are Horace Burrell (Jamaica), Lars-Ake Lagrell (Sweden), Alfredo Hawit Banegas (Honduras) and Omari Selemani (Democratic Republic of Congo).
Any of the sides involved can appeal against the eventual verdicts to FIFA's appeals committee, and subsequently take the case to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if they still have objections.

By Mark Gleeson.

ALEXANDRIA, (Reuters) - Everton defender Joseph Yobo is relishing the opportunity of taking on Chelsea striker Didier Drogba when Nigeria meet the Ivory Coast in Tuesday's African Nations Cup semi-final.
"Yobo versus Drogba. That's going to be exciting and a real challenge," Nigeria's Yobo told Reuters on the eve of the match.
"A tough one, he's a top player, no doubt about that. I've played against him a few times already. It will be very, very exciting.
"He is obviously a very special player but I'm not worried about him specifically. My first concern is the match itself and helping my team to make it to the final," added the 25-year-old.
Yobo has captained the team in place of Jay-Jay Okocha, who missed the first-round matches with injury and was on the bench for Saturday's quarter-final win on penalties over Tunisia.
"It hasn't been my first time (as captain) but four matches in a row at the Nations Cup because Jay-Jay has been injured has been a big responsibility," Yobo said.
"I've tried to get us to play as a team because collectively is the only way we can win. This is a young team that go on and do a lot of good things, hopefully starting here at the Nations Cup.
Nigeria's last competitive meeting with the Ivorians was in the 1994 Nations Cup semi-finals, which they won on penalties.

MADRID (AFP) - David Beckham gave an insight into why Real Madrid have looked a different side since the start of the year.
"The secret of the team's success is easy - unity and hard work," said the England captain.
Real Madrid are now unbeaten in nine games in all competitions since 2006 began and the Spanish giants have rattled off four straight wins in the league.
"We're playing well under Lopez Caro and our confidence is growing.
"I'm pleased with my personal performance but particularly with the way the team played overall," said Beckham after Saturday's crushing 4-0 win over Espanyol.
Jose Maria Gutierrez opened the scoring after just 13 minutes, finishing off an outstanding cross from the right wing by Beckham, with two goals from Zinedine Zidane and another by Ronaldo completing the scoring spree.
"The victory is important because it allows us to continue our good run, but for me, the most important aspect is that the team is showing the right mentality with all the players working hard for each other," added Beckham.
"We have an excellent team, we're working well and we have an obligation to continue improving - then we'll see what happens about the title race."
Real Madrid started the weekend in third place, 13 points behind their bitter rivals and league leaders Barcelona.
"It's not impossible (to win the league) but it will be difficult, Now, we will have to see whether we can reel in Barcelona little-by-little."
Beckham has yet to win a trophy, apart from the relatively insignificant Spanish SuperCup, since his arrival at the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2003.
Many pundits in Britain and Spain have speculated that Real's recent failure to add to their extensive silverware collection was a reason why Beckham has not yet signed an extension to his contract that ends in June 2007.
However, he insisted on Sunday that everything was in hand and that discussions about a new deal would start soon.
"I'm very happy here and I'm just waiting to talk to the president about my renewal before the end of the season."
Beckham's display of inch-perfect passes which frequently disected the Barcelona-based side had the home fans roaring their approval.
"The fans are behind us again. It's fantastic to see the Bernabeu like that."
Another reason for Beckham to smile was the fact that he came through the game unscathed despite suffering back and ankle problems in training last week, niggles that made him doubtful until 24 hours before the kick off.
Real are still involved in the Champions League and Spanish Cup as well as contesting the Spanish title and have a schedule until the middle of March that involves them playing two games nearly every week.
If Real are to continue their assault on an unprecedented triple crown by a Spanish side, which their legendary team of the 1950s couldn't achieve despite five consecutive European Cup triumphs, they will need Beckham in top form.

By Martyn Herman.

LONDON, (Reuters) - Chelsea emerged from a spate of draws to grind out a 2-0 victory over third-placed Liverpool and re-open their 15-point lead in the Premier League on Sunday.
After three successive 1-1 draws for the champions, two in the league and one in the FA Cup, goals in each half by William Gallas and Hernan Crespo all but extinguished Liverpool's remote chance of overhauling them.
Liverpool have been a thorn in the side of Jose Mourinho's team in their Champions League tussles but after a bright opening half hour, they faded badly at Stamford Bridge.
The European champions' frustration boiled over eight minutes from time when Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina was sent off for raising a hand to Arjen Robben who collapsed to the floor holding his face.
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez accused the Dutch winger of making a meal of the incident.
"Now I must go quickly to the hospital to see Robben, he must be in the hospital now," an angry Benitez told Sky Sports.
"It's unbelievable, we have to stop these things. Pepe just touched him and he dived on the floor, it's so clear."
Earlier on Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur consolidated fourth place with a comprehensive 3-1 home victory against Charlton Athletic -- with Jermain Defoe twice on target.
Chelsea now have 66 points from 25 matches, Manchester United are second with 51 and Liverpool have 45 with two games in hand. Tottenham have 44.
United's 4-2 victory over Fulham on Saturday trimmed Chelsea's lead to 12 points and a victory for Liverpool would have raised the prospect of a revival of the title race.
Liverpool were the more impressive side early on, playing the more fluent football on a threadbare pitch.

AERIAL PROWESS
Midfielder Steven Gerrard was influential, as was giant striker Peter Crouch, whose aerial prowess ruffled Chelsea's rearguard. After 23 minutes Crouch headed over, leaving Chelsea keeper Petr Cech with a bloodied eye in the process.
Chelsea had hardly created a chance before they took the lead after 35 minutes. Joe Cole's outswinging corner was headed goalwards by Ricardo Carvalho and Gallas turned the ball past Reina from close range.
Crespo thought he had made it 2-0 on the stroke of halftime but his effort was ruled out for offside.
Liverpool sparked briefly after the interval with Mohamed Sissoko and Gerrard having chances to equalise, but Crespo killed them off after 68 minutes, racing away to smash a powerful shot past Reina.
Liverpool's misery was complete after 82 minutes when Reina's clumsy tackle after he had raced out of his goal left Eidur Gudjohnsen in a heap near the touchline.
He then became embroiled in a row with Robben who fell theatrically to the floor after a slight push in the face.
Tottenham's challenge for a top-four place got back on track after a three-game winless sequence thanks to a double from Defoe, who was granted a rare start alongside Robbie Keane by coach Martin Jol.
The England striker, who has slipped behind Keane and Egyptian striker Mido in the pecking order at White Hart Lane, took just 12 minutes to make an impact with a deflected shot past Charlton keeper Thomas Myhre.
Jermaine Jenas fired home a second goal five minutes before halftime and Defoe, who began his career at Charlton, made it 3-0 a minute into the second half with a clinical right-foot finish after being played in by substitute Tom Huddlestone.
Charlton substitute Jerome Thomas gave the visitors a glimmer of hope when he cut in to flash a shot past Paul Robinson with 20 minutes remaining.
Tottenham are four points above fifth-placed north London rivals Arsenal, who beat Birmingham City 2-0 on Saturday.

MADRID (AFP) - Atletico Madrid again proved themselves to be Barcelona's nemesis and ended the Catalan club's winning run with a 3-1 victory in the Nou Camp.
Barca had notched up 14 straight wins to take them well clear at the top of the table but the reigning Spanish champions were second best against the only side to have beaten them this season.
They won 2-1 when the two sides met in Madrid earlier this season and Atletico were also the only side to have beaten Barca in the Nou Camp last season.
Fernando Torres, who scored both goals in Atletico's 2-0 win 12 months ago, showed that 98,000 baying Barca fans couldn't unnerve him by opening the scoring for the visitors after 33 minutes.
The Spanish international striker slotted home a loose ball after a mix up between Gabri Garcia and Deco failed to clear a cross from Atletico's Argentine winger Luciano Galletti.
Maxi Rodriguez got Atletico's second a few seconds after the break, connecting with a Martin Petrov pass, before Henrik Larsson replied for Barca just after the hour.
However, Torres secured a memorable victory with his second goal of the night 15 minutes from the whistle, firing home from just left of the penalty spot after Maxi had nodded the ball over.
Barca were playing without both Samuel Eto'o, who was still recovering after missing the penalty which lead to Cameroon's African Nations Cup exit, and the suspended Ronaldinho.
It was the first time that Barca had been without both their stars in a league game since the pair arrived at the club in the summer of 2004.
Despite the surprise loss, Barca remain well on course for their second successive Spanish title with 52 points from 22 games and a nine-point advantage over their nearest rivals Valencia.
Valencia continued to retain an interest in the title race thanks a stunning strike from their Spanish international David Villa, the only goal in their 1-0 win at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.
Villa registered his 14th league goal of the season after 22 minutes, spoting Deportivo keeper Jose Molina off his line to find the net from nearly 50 metres.
Real Madrid remain in third, one point behind the 2004 champions, despite crushing Espanyol 4-0 on Saturday.
Ronaldo marked his return to action, after three weeks out injured with a right calf strain, by getting his 10th goal of the season.
An opener after 13 minutes from Jose Maria 'Guti' Gutierrez and two goals from three-time World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane completed Real's scoring spree and kept up their unbeaten record in 2006.
At the other end of the table, Alaves looked set to rise out of the relegation zone for the first time since September until Daniel Guiza's goal two minutes into injury time gave Getafe a 2-2 draw on Sunday.
Guiza's shot from the edge of the six yard box denied Alaves back-to-back victories for the first time this season and left them just one place off the foot of the Spanish first division.
Getafe took the lead after just three minutes from a Mariano Pernia penalty.
Alaves then equalised eight minutes later when Australian international John Aloisi headed home an Edu Alonso cross and Rodolfo Bodipo put Alaves ahead with 18 minutes to go.
Real Mallorca slip to the bottom after they went down 2-1 at Real Sociedad.
Curiously, all three goals in the game came from men signed in the last few weeks.
Sociedad's Danish striker Morten Skoubo scored from close range after 13 minutes before Mallorca's Leonardo Pisculichi marked his debut by equalising after 33 minutes.
However, the last word belonged to Sociedad's Mark Gonzalez, who moved from European champions Liverpool on Monday.
The Chilean international had been denied a work permit to play in the English Premiership but showed that he could have made the grade if he had been given a chance with a well-taken winner seven minutes before the whistle.
The victory was Sociedad's first in six games.
By contrast, Mallorca have gone eight games without a win and the job of coach Hector Cuper is now in serious jeopardy.

GLASGOW (AFP) - Hibernian humbled Rangers with an emphatic 3-0 victory at Ibrox in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.
Second-half goals from Garry O'Connor, Ivan Sproule and Chris Killen meant Tony Mowbray's side won by the same scoreline they managed at Ibrox in the Scottish Premier League in August and made it three wins out of three against Rangers this season.
The result ensured both sides of the Old Firm are out of the competition before the quarter-finals - following Celtic's defeat away to Clyde in the previous round.
And Hibs' amazing victory also almost certainly ends Alex McLeish's side chances of winning any silverware this season due to their position in the SPL in third place - 15 points behind leaders Celtic.
Hearts, meanwhile, will now be favourites to win the Cup after their 3-0 win at home to Aberdeen. All three goals came in the first-half through Czech forward Michal Pospisil, Calum Elliot and a penalty from Steven Pressley. Zander Diamond was sent off for Aberdeen just before half-time.
At Ibrox Hibs boss Mowbray was thrilled with his side's victory.
He said: "They had quite a few chances in the first-half but we knew the longer we could stay in the game we would create chances with our youth and energy and that's what happened.
"I am delighted to be in the hat for the next round but there are still some dangerous teams for us in the competition.
"We want to try and win it now and bring some silverware to the club."
The Rangers manager, meanwhile, blamed the defeat on bad luck and poor defending.
McLeish said: "Sometimes you know it is not going to be your day. On another day the chances we created would have went in but the lapses we made at the back cost us.
"All credit to Hibs as they took their chances in the second-half and we didn't take ours in the first-half and I wish them all the best for the rest of the competition."
Rangers had dominated the first-half of the match but in the 50th minute Hibs scored against the run of play.
Northern Irish forward Sproule twisted and turned his way past Marvin Andrews on the left-hand side before dinking over a cross, which Rangers' Dutch keeper Ronald Waterreus appeared to completely misjudge allowing it to drift over his head, and O'Connor had the simple task of nodding into the empty net.
Nine minutes later the Edinburgh side doubled their lead when Sproule drove a low shot into the corner of the net from 12-yards in front of the large travelling support in the 40,722 crowd.
With the Ibrox side throwing bodies forward in an attempt to salvage their season there was room for Hibs to exploit which they duly did in the 77th minute.
Derek Riordan threaded a perfectly weighted pass to Killen and he scored from a tight angle at the second attempt after his first effort was blocked by Waterreus.
The two Edinburgh sides were the only teams to book their places in the fourth round with the other five games on Saturday finishing in draws.
The only other Scottish Premier League sides still in the competition, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Falkirk, were both held by lower league sides.
Caley were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Second Division Partick Thistle with Roy McBain and Craig Dargo scoring for the Inverness side while Mark Roberts grabbed a brace for their opponents.
Falkirk needed to come from behind to draw 1-1 at home to Ross County of the First Division with Daniel McBreen scoring a late equalizer after Don Cowie put the visitors ahead in the 17th minute.

LONDON, (Reuters) - England and Newcastle United striker Michael Owen is confident he will be fit to return in April from his broken toe.
"My recovery is going well," the 26-year-old told the club's website on Saturday. "Hopefully I'll start (working) on the treadmill soon.
"The surgeon seems happy that the pin is still in place and I want to be back for at least a month of the season." Owen had a metal pin inserted on the fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot after colliding with Tottenham Hotspur's England goalkeeper Paul Robinson on Dec. 31.
An April comeback would give Newcastle's record signing plenty of time to return to full fitness ahead of the World Cup.
England play their first group game against Paraguay in Frankfurt on June 10.
With 35 goals from his 75 international appearances, the 26-year-old is an important part of Sven-Goran Eriksson's World Cup plans.

LONDON, (Reuters) - Brief reports of English Premier League matches played on Saturday:
- - - -
BIRMINGHAM CITY 0 ARSENAL 2
Injury-ravaged Arsenal avoided a third successive league defeat ending a troubled week with a rare away victory.
Striker Thierry Henry made the points safe after the break with his 200th goal for Arsenal in all competitions, planting a left-foot shot past Maik Taylor.
Midway through the first half Emmanuel Adebayor, just back from African Nations Cup duty with Togo, headed his first Arsenal goal to cap a fine debut.
Birmingham's misery was complete when former England striker Emile Heskey was sent off after 83 minutes.
- - - -
BOLTON WANDERERS 1 WIGAN ATHLETIC 1
Two sides in the mix for a European place scrapped for a point apiece at the Reebok Stadium.
Bolton, still without several players on African Nations Cup duty, looked like winning when Greece international Stelios Giannakopoulos pounced after 63 minutes after a free kick from Bruno N'Gotty found its way to him.
League Cup finalists Wigan responded after 75 minutes when Andreas Johansson converted after a Reto Ziegler free kick was parried by Jussi Jaaskelainen.
- - - -
EVERTON 1 MANCHESTER CITY 0
Everton, unbeaten since December 28, continued their climb up the table with a fifth victory in six games.
David Weir scored the game's only goal, scrambling in a corner from Mikel Arteta after seven minutes.
Manchester City had Stephen Jordan sent off for a second booking in the last minute as they slipped to their 11th defeat of the season.
- - - -
MANCHESTER UNITED 4 FULHAM 2
Cristiano Ronaldo scored once in each half as United recovered from their high-scoring midweek defeat by Blackburn Rovers, although they were far from convincing.
Park Ji-sung put United in front after seven minutes and Ronaldo's wickedly swerving free kick doubled the lead on 14.
Fulham replied through a thumping Brian McBride header, only for Louis Saha to score an offside-looking third for United a minute later. Heidar Helguson's header made it 3-2 before the break and Fulham looked capable of earning a point until Ronaldo crashed in his second off the post late on.
- - - -
MIDDLESBROUGH 0 ASTON VILLA 4
The optimism of a midweek win at bottom club Sunderland evaporated when Boro were taken apart by a resurgent Villa for whom Luke Moore scored a hat-trick.
Moore opened the scoring after 18 minutes with a low drive from inside the area and things got worse for Boro when Kevin Phillips headed a James Milner cross past Mark Schwarzer five minutes later.
Boro fell to pieces after the break, Moore doubling Villa's lead with two goals in two minutes just past the hour as Villa made it six games undefeated on the road.
- - - -
NEWCASTLE UNITED 2 PORTSMOUTH 0
The post-Graeme Souness era began with a valuable three points for Newcastle and they opened some daylight between themselves and the bottom three.
Striker and skipper Alan Shearer, who is assisting caretaker manager Glenn Roeder, promised to lead by example and he was as good as his word with a superb performance.
Shearer struck after 64 minutes to overtake Jackie Milburn's record of 200 goals for the club and he was also heavily involved in Charles N'Zogbia's 40th minute opener.
Second-bottom Portsmouth have now gone six league matches without a victory.
- - - -
WEST BROMWICH ALBION 2 BLACKBURN ROVERS 0
West Bromwich Albion eased their relegation worries, bringing Rovers down to earth after their midweek victory over Manchester United.
Striker Kevin Campbell marked his 36th birthday with the opening goal after six minutes.
Jonathan Greening's powerful half-volley gave the Baggies a two-goal cushion and Rovers struggled to create any real clear openings.
- - - -
WEST HAM UNITED 2 SUNDERLAND 0
Fourteen points from safety and down to 10 men after 23 minutes following Stephen Wright's red card, Sunderland hung on grimly against a buoyant West Ham side who were enjoying a five-game winning streak.
The pressure told eventually, however, seven million pounds ($12.44 million) signing Dean Ashton marking his full debut with the breakthrough goal nine minutes from time.
Defender Paul Konchesky sealed the points five minutes later, grabbing his first goal of the season with a powerful effort from 25 metres.

Playing Sunday:
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR v CHARLTON ATHLETIC (1330)
CHELSEA v LIVERPOOL (1600)

By Darren Ennis.

BRUSSELS, (Reuters) - Anderlecht notched up their first win since Dec. 10 with a 4-1 victory over Racing Genk on Saturday to go second in the Belgian first division.
Champions Club Bruges remain top after they beat Lierse 3-1 on Friday. However, victory for Standard Liege over La Louviere on Sunday will put them level with the leaders.
Bruges have 42 points from 21 games, two ahead of Anderlecht. Liege are on 39 points with a game in hand.
Anderlecht were two goals ahead in the first 12 minutes against Genk, who remain in fifth - eight points behind Bruges.
Bart Goor fired home from the edge of the box after nine minutes before Par Zetterberg slotted home a penalty shortly after when Christian Wilhelmsson was fouled in the area.
Genk struck back on the half-hour when Kevin Vandenbergh pounced after the home goalkeeper, Silvio Proto, spilled a long-range shot.
Anderlecht dominated the second half and restored their two-goal lead in the 63rd minute through a Nicolas Frutos header.
They went further ahead two minutes later when Goor slotted home his second of the game from a difficult angle.
Bruges's Philippe Clement scored three times in the win over Lierse.
The midfielder found the net twice for his own side, however, he also scored for the opposition with an own goal in injury time. Ivan Leko was the other goalscorer for Bruges.

By Trevor Huggins.

CAIRO, (Reuters) - Captain Didier Drogba converted the winning spot-kick to give Ivory Coast a 12-11 penalty shoot-out victory over Cameroon on Saturday to clinch an African Nations Cup semi-final with Nigeria.
With extra time finishing 1-1, Drogba rifled home the winner after Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o, the tournament's top scorer, became the first player to miss from the spot after all 22 previous players had found the net.
The game burst briefly into life after 90 minutes of tedium when Ivorian Bakary Kone rifled home in the second minute of extra time and Cameroon levelled three minutes later with fellow substitute Albert Meyong Ze.
Having also drawn 1-1 after extra time, Nigeria beat Tunisia 6-5 in a penalty shootout in the earlier quarter-final in Port Said to reach their semi-final berth in Alexandria on Tuesday.
Host nation Egypt will play Senegal in the other semi-final in Cairo on the same day.
The dramatic end to the game at Cairo's Military Stadium followed successful spot-kicks by all 11 players from each side, including the goalkeepers.
When Eto'o stepped up for his second penalty he skied it high over the bar.
Drogba, whose men had lost home and away to Cameroon in qualifying but still pipped them to a place at the World Cup in Germany, made sure there would be no revenge for his opponents as he swept his second penalty home.
Victory followed a game in which Ivory Coast had settled first, their midfielders quick to open the supply line through to Drogba, who flashed a header wide after a few minutes after Kanga Akale's inviting cross from the left.
Eto'o landed in a heap twice in the early exchanges and it was soon clear the Barcelona striker was going to face some crunching tackles.
With the Ivorians pushing forward, Cameroon keeper Hamidou Souleymanou needed to make a brave save as Drogba lunged at a bouncing ball in the area after a long punt upfield.

ETO'O CHANCE
The only real scoring chance of the half fell to Eto'o five minutes before the break.
The Barcelona striker raced on to a great through-ball from Jean Makoun but his shot was brilliantly parried by keeper Jean-Jacques Tizie and then deflected away off defender Emmanuel Eboue.
Ivory Coast, looking hungrier for the win and more determined in the tackle, kept up the pressure right from the re-start, winning a series of corners.
Rigobert Song replied with a bullet header from Geremi's corner that would have been a certain goal had the Cameroon captain been able keep it on target.
However, the match soon became bogged down again with neither side able to find time and space to create much, relying instead on flashes of individual skill, such as Drogba's swivel and shot on 68 minutes.
Without creating any clearcut chances, Cameroon gradually took the upper hand and defender Timothee Atouba nearly struck the goal of the tournament with a 25-metre piledriver which Tizie tipped over the bar.
Extra time came as no surprise, but the early fireworks did.
Arouna Kone crashed a 20-metre shot against the Cameroon crossbar and Bakary Kone managed to control the rebound and rifle home a low shot.
Cameroon hit back straight away with Geremi rattling the Ivorian crossbar before Meyong Ze was played in by Daniel Ngom Kome for a clinical finish. The action finished there, sending the game to a prolonged, nail-biting finish.

BIRMINGHAM, England (AFP) - Thierry Henry made another entry into the Arsenal history books, collecting his 200th goal for the club as Arsene Wenger's youthful side put an end to their recent indifferent form with a 2-0 victory away to Birmingham City.
French international Henry clearly enjoys St Andrew's, where he also scored his 100th Arsenal goal, and his latest scoring feat left Steve Bruce's side in deep trouble third from bottom in the Premiership table, five points from safety.
To make matters worse for the Birmingham manager, he could be without Emile Heskey for an extended period following the striker's second-half sending off for a second yellow card from referee Mike Riley.
That will ensure Heskey picks up at least a one-match suspension, and his angry reaction and reluctance to leave the field could see him reported to the Football Association for further punishment.
In contrast, Arsene Wenger's day could barely have been better, following the news that Sol Campbell will be back in training next week.
There had been fevered speculation about the England centre back's state of mind and personal life after he hid from public view following a humiliating substitution after an error-strewn first half against West Ham in mid-week.
However, Campbell's solicitor released a statement saying the 31-year-old would return to training next week, also insisting he had "no personal problems whatsoever".
Henry's second half goal, his 19th of the season, ensured Arsenal ended a two-game Premiership losing streak to re-ignite their jostle for the fourth Champions League place with north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
The French striker became Arsenal's all-time top scorer in October, beating Iam Wright's total of 185.
Equally pleasing for Wenger will have been the impact of one of his latest crop of young signings, Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who collected his first Premiership goal on his full debut.
The seven million pound signing from Monaco showed off a languid style and willingness to run at defenders, and was in the right place at the right time to give Arsenal the lead in the 22nd minute of an ill-tempered game.
Abou Diaby, increasingly looking the perfect replacement for Patrick Vieira, was the architect of the goal, returning Henry's pass back into the Birmingham six-yard box.
Martin Latka, the Czech defender making his home debut for Birmingham following his arrival on loan from Slavia Prague, tried to intercept the danger but his attempted clearance struck goalkeeper Maik Taylor full in the chest.
The rebound looped up dangerously under the crossbar and the 1.90 metre (6ft 3in) Adebayour was able to out-jump Matthew Upson and guide his header into an empty net.
After their spirited draw against Liverpool on Wednesday, Birmingham were desperate to claw back more points on their relegation rivals and only an excellent save by Jens Lehmann prevented Jiri Jarosik from levelling the scores with an angled shot following Heskey's clever pass.
Latka had barely put a foot wrong against Henry, but one lapse in concentration midway through the second half cost him dearly as the pacy striker effectively ended the contest.
Francesc Fabregas' excellent pass enabled Henry to use his acceleration to ease away from his marker and the record-breaking striker measured a powerful left-foot shot to beat Taylor and seal the victory. Bruce's misery was completed by the late sending off of Heskey.
Former England captain Alan Shearer also broke Newcastle United's goal-scoring record in a 2-0 home win over fellow strugglers Portsmouth on Saturday.
The 35-year-old, who took on the role of assistant to caretaker boss Glenn Roeder following the midweek sacking of Graeme Souness, scored in the second half to eclipse Jackie Milburn's record of 200 goals.
"Knowing Alan Shearer like I do, he will be happy to share that (the record) with the fans and send them away really happy," Roeder told Sky Sports.
It was Newcastle's first victory in seven league games and lifted them to 15th in the table, having picked up 29 points from 24 games.

By Jovan Ravello (T&T Guardian).

National football coach Leo Beenhakker has remained tight lipped during the first two days of a six-day camp involving 15 players hopeful of joining the ranks of the Soca Warriors ahead of their World Cup finals in Germany this June.
According to team manager Bruce Aanensen, who travelled with the team to Miami, the coach has not let on to his thoughts on the ten local and five foreign players but said it was still early as the group had only had two sessions.
Beenhakker conducted his first session on Wednesday and the second yesterday. They will play a team from Florida International University, the school of US based under-21 player Judah Hernandez, today.
Aanensen revealed that there would be two more sessions tomorrow and a final practice match on Sunday after which the coaching staff of Beenhakker, Wim Rijsbergen and Anton Corneal will make their decision.
At this meeting it would be decided who of the players will be retained and how they would continue to be involved in a programme leading up to the final selection of the squad.
Aanensen said that arrangements for Germany are on schedule and that fine details will be determined at meetings on March 5, 6 and 7 in Dusseldorf, Germany before returning to T&T on March 12.
These meetings, similar to those held by Fifa after the World Cup draw, will follow T&T’s February 28 friendly international against Iceland at Queen’s Park Rangers’ Loftus Road Stadium, South Africa Road, London.
The Warriors then tackle Peru on May 10, prior to a friendly against an Austrian club team on the 23rd, three days after the team’s arrival in Austria for a 14-day camp during which they are scheduled to play the John Toshack coached Wales in Austria on May 27.
T&T will then play Slovenia on May 31 at a venue 40 minutes from Austria.
This match will be followed by a final pre-tournament warm-up match against the Czech Republic in Prague on June 3 which was confirmed by the Czech FA yesterday. (AP)

By: Justin Palmer.

ONDON, (Reuters) - David Bentley hit a hat-trick for Blackburn Rovers in a thrilling 4-3 win over Manchester United on Wednesday while leaders Chelsea, held 1-1 at Aston Villa, plugged on towards a second successive Premier League title.
Chelsea, who led through Dutch winger Arjen Robben's early goal, were pegged back at Villa Park but still extended their lead to 15 points despite a second successive league draw. Second-placed United came off worst in a seven-goal thriller at Ewood Park as Rovers, who completed the league double over United this season, exacted swift revenge for their defeat by Alex Ferguson's side in the League Cup semi-finals last week.
Rio Ferdinand was sent off late on, capping a miserable night for the United defender who was at fault for Bentley's second goal.
Liverpool, in third spot, conceded a late goal at Anfield that allowed 10-man Birmingham City to grab a 1-1 draw.
Sixth-placed Arsenal, who have not finished outside the top two since Arsene Wenger's first season in charge in 1996-97, slumped to a 3-2 home defeat by West Ham United.
Midfielder Bentley, who has been on loan at Blackburn this season, signed on a permanent basis from Arsenal for an undisclosed fee on transfer-deadline day and quickly repaid manager Mark Hughes's faith.
He netted twice in a three-goal blitz in 11 minutes at the end of the first half to send Rovers in 3-1 up at the break, with Lucas Neill also converting a penalty.
French striker Louis Saha, whose goal in the second leg put United into the League Cup final, had levelled but Ferguson's side appeared down and out when Bentley rifled in his third.
On came substitute Ruud van Nistelrooy to score twice in quick succession but Rovers held out.
Chelsea appeared set to take advantage of United's slip-up but found Villa in resilient mood.

CECH DEAL
Czech keeper Petr Cech, who signed a two-year contract extension on Wednesday that commits him to the champions until 2010, made a superb save to deny Kevin Phillips but was beaten 12 minutes from time when Luke Moore scrambled an equaliser.
"One thing we have got is a big heart and a lot of spirit," Villa manager David O'Leary told Sky Sports.
Birmingham gained a valuable point in their bid to beat the drop, Xabi Alonso's own goal two minutes from time earning reward for a battling performance.
Steven Gerrard had put Liverpool ahead on 62 minutes.
The away side were forced to play for over an hour with 10 men after midfielder Damien Johnson was shown a straight red card for a challenge on debutant Dan Agger.
Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler, who returned on a free transfer this week to the club for whom he scored 171 goals in eight years, was given a huge ovation as a second-half substitute.
Fowler was denied an injury-time winner when his effort was ruled out.
Arsenal's England centre back Sol Campbell was given a torrid evening by West Ham as the north London side's stuttering season continued at Highbury.
Campbell's mis-hit clearance allowed Nigel Reo-Coker a free run on goal to score midway through the first half, and was then left helpless as Bobby Zamora confidently chested down, turned away from the defender and shot past Jens Lehmann.
Thierry Henry pulled one back, only for Matthew Etherington to make it 3-1, a lead they held despite a late goal from Robert Pires.
Campbell was substituted at halftime and left the ground immediately.
Manchester City dealt another blow to under-fire Newcastle United manager Graeme Souness by thumping the struggling north-east side 3-0.
Portsmouth and Bolton Wanderers drew 1-1 at Fratton Park.

LONDON, (Reuters) - Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has been voted by the fans as England's Player of the Year for the second successive year.
Lampard, who was also second to Barcelona and Brazil playmaker Ronaldinho in the 2005 European and World Footballer of the Year awards, received 29 percent of the vote in the FA.com poll.
"I think the fans must have had a very hard time choosing because we are lucky enough to have a number of really outstanding individual players," England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson told the FA's official website on Wednesday.
"But you can't argue with their choice. He (Lampard) is one of the most improved players I have seen in the last few years, he gets better and better all the time."
Lampard, 27, scored three goals in nine England appearances last year. He was also an ever-present in Chelsea's Premier League-winning side.
Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard was runner-up in the FA poll with 18 percent of the vote, ahead of Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney (16 percent).
Michael Owen (12) was fourth, with captain David Beckham (10) fifth.

MOSCOW, (Reuters) - Russian champions CSKA Moscow on Thursday signed a $7-million sponsorship deal with Vneshtorgbank, the country's second largest bank, to replace oil company Sibneft as their title sponsors.
Sibneft terminated its $54-million deal with last season's UEFA Cup champions in November after the oil company was sold by Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich to Russia's state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom for $13.1 billion.
Sibneft's three-year sponsorship contract with CSKA, the largest in Russian soccer, was to have run until March 2007.
"We are happy to have such a fine company as Vneshtorgbank as our main sponsor," said CSKA president Yevgeny Giner.
"We're still in a market for other sponsors but we don't want to look like a decorated Christmas tree," he said referring to a club shirt being covered with too many sponsor's logos.
Giner added that CSKA and Vneshtorgbank have a provision to prolong their deal for another year.

ROME (AFP) - Inter Milan's Dejan Stankovic scored the only goal to send his former club Lazio crashing out of the Italian Cup in the quarter-finals.
The tie was level at 1-1 after the first leg last week and Inter had early chances to finish the tie with Marco Materazzi and Adriano going close.
Stankovic broke through in the 36th minute with a fierce drive into the top corner of the net.
Santiago Solari wasted a good late chance to equalise when his weak lob went straight to the goalkeeper and Igli Tare could have taken it to extra time with a soft header.
Inter will face Udinese in the semi-finals while Palermo will take on Roma.
Serie A leaders Juventus were knocked out on Wednesday despite beating Roma 1-0 in a bad-tempered quarter-final, second leg.
Adrian Mutu's penalty shortly after half-time gave Juve victory on the night, but the tie finished 3-3 on aggregate and Roma went through on the away goals rule.
Both teams were reduced to 10 men after just 18 minutes when Juve striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Roma's French midfielder Olivier Dacourt were sent off for fighting.
The row between them erupted after an horrific tackle by Pavel Nedved on Roma captain Francesco Totti.
The deadlock at the Olympic stadium was broken in the 48th minute when Simone Perrotta blocked Mutu's cross and the Romanian stepped up to convert the spot-kick.
Juventus came within inches of going 2-0 up - a result that would have seen them go through - but Patrick Vieira's 25-yard shot hit the base of the post eight minutes from time.
In Wednesday's early tie, Udinese clinched a semi-final place after drawing 2-2 at Sampdoria for a 3-3 aggregate score. Udinese, who squandered a two-goal lead in Genoa, went through to the last four on away goals.

BUENOS AIRES, (Reuters) - Martin Palermo's lethal finishing helped Boca Juniors to a first win in Argentina's Clausura championship when the Apertura champions won 2-1 at Rosario Central.
Palermo also scored in Boca's opening game against unfancied Gimnasia-Jujuy on Sunday but was unable to prevent his team crashing to a surprise 2-1 defeat.
Boca's faltering start to the Clausura seemed set to continue on Wednesday when German Rivarola fired Rosario into the lead after five minutes.
Palermo equalised with a typically accurate header and fellow striker Rodrigo Palacio scored the winning goal shortly before halftime.
Boca are seen as favourites to win the Clausura title as the club's playing schedule is less punishing than usual due to failure to qualify for the 2006 Libertadores Cup.
Independiente exposed Instituto's weaknesses with a 5-0 win over the Cordoba club. The game was interrupted when Instituto fans mounted a pitch invasion to protest against the lack of investment that seems to have made their team a candidate for relegation after only two games.
Midfielder Emiliano Armenteros scored two of Independiente's goals, while Lorgio Alvarez, Sergio Aguero and Eduardo Bustos Montoya completed the rout.
Referee Horacio Elizondo ended the affair prematurely when renewed pitch invasions took place in stoppage time.
Estudiantes remain at the top of the Clausura table after beating San Lorenzo 2-1 on Tuesday.

By Gareth Chetwynd.

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) - Three goals by Carlos Tevez underlined Corinthians's return to form as the Brazilian champions trounced bottom-placed Sao Bento 5-0 in a Sao Paulo state championship clash.
The victory moved Corinthians up to third with 12 points behind surprise package Noroeste and leaders Palmeiras who both have 15 points, although the latter have a game in hand.
Tevez, like the rest of the Corinthians team, has benefited from the return of creative midfielder Ricardinho to the club following a move from Santos.
The Argentine striker tormented the Sao Bento defence on Wednesday, and won the first of two penalties that he converted. Tevez pounced on a loose ball from a corner for his third goal.
Ricardinho put his own name on the scoresheet with a floated free kick.
Corinthians lost Betao midway through the second half when the sweeper was dismissed for a second bookable offence but Sao Bento remained under pressure.
Noroeste beat Portuguesa 1-0 thanks to a goal by Lenilson after 47 minutes. The in-form club from the Sao Paulo satellite town of Bauru has won five of its six games.
Sao Paulo managed their first win in the state championship, disposing of Marilia 2-0 as Junior and Roger scored the goals that lifted them out of the relegation zone.
The club who beat Liverpool in the Club World Championship final in Japan last December is struggling to rebuild after selling key players Cicinho, Grafite and Marcio Amoroso to Real Madrid, Le Mans and AC Milan respectively.
"A football team only builds confidence on winning performances. We have lost important elements and we are restructuring," said Sao Paulo coach Muricy Ramalho.

By Rob Stewart.

NEWCASTLE, England, (Reuters) - Newcastle United endured a turbulent 17 months under Graeme Souness until the combustible Scotsman's tenure was cut short on Thursday.
In that time, the north-eastern team fell from Champions League contenders to injury-ravaged strugglers who face the real threat of relegation from the English Premier League.
Newcastle enjoyed finishes of fourth, third and fifth in the league under previous manager Bobby Robson.
Souness could succeed only in steering the Tyneside club, who reached the second group phase of the Champions League three years ago, to 14th last season and 15th place this campaign.
The failure of the 52-year-old can be put down to a number of factors - poor man-management, poor tactics, injuries and a string of questionable signings.
When Souness was brought in by chairman Freddy Shepherd to succeed Robson following a poor start to the 2004-05 season he was charged with instilling discipline in the dressing room. But that clampdown came at a cost.
Volatile Welsh striker Craig Bellamy had a bust-up with Souness and was shipped out to Celtic while Laurent Robert was deemed surplus to requirements after the Frenchman publicly voiced doubts about the club's direction.
Souness, the fifth Newcastle manager in a decade, was given plenty of money but the results of his forays into the transfer market have been mixed.
French centre-half Jean-Alain Boumsong cost 8.2 million pounds ($14.6-million) from Rangers a year ago but he has been unable to shore up a defence leaking league goals this season.
Spanish forward Albert Luque, who cost 9.5 million pounds from Deportivo Coruna, has also looked over-priced and disillusioned at his failure to make an impression in England.

BONE BROKEN
Souness played a key role in persuading England striker Michael Owen to move from Real Madrid last August for a club record 17 million pounds but Owen's season was ruined when he broke a bone in his foot at Tottenham six weeks ago.
Even before the Owen blow the situation had become so bad that Souness changed the venue for first-team training due to injuries to players including Kieron Dyer, Craig Moore, Luque and Emre Belozoglu.
Souness, a former manager at Liverpool, Southampton and Blackburn Robers, was given a lukewarm reception when he replaced the highly popular Robson in September 2004.
Despite leading Newcastle to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup and last four of the FA Cup, he never won over the so-called Toon Army at Newcastle who have not celebrated a major domestic trophy since 1955.
The supporters complained their team looked disorganised, unmotivated and unfit. Recent results only served to inflame their discontent - Newcastle have picked up just one point from the last 18 on offer.
The disenchantment grew when Newcastle lost their last home game against Souness's former club Blackburn a fortnight ago and hundreds of fans staged a demonstration calling for his sacking.
After the pain of paying Souness a hefty sum to go, Shepherd will now look desperately for a successor. Until one is found, caretaker Glenn Roeder, assisted by captain Alan Shearer, will have to steer the club to safety.
Bolton manager Sam Allardyce and former Celtic chief Martin O'Neill are quoted by bookmakers Ladbrokes as the 9-2 joint favourites to succeed Souness while England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is rated an 8-1 chance.
Whoever takes over, former England captain Shearer, who retires from playing at the end of the season, is likely to have a big say in the future of his hometown club.

By Bill Barclay.

LONDON, (Reuters) - The cherished goal of playing in this year's World Cup underpinned what little activity there was in January's transfer window.
That was the stated aim of the two highest profile names to switch clubs -- Italian strikers Antonio Cassano and Christian Vieri.
Both decided that playing outside their homeland gave them the best chance of representing it in Germany in June and Cassano joined nine-times European champions Real Madrid from AS Roma for 5.5 million euros ($6.67 million).
The fact that Real paid so little for a highly rated striker who cost Roma $28.5 million in 2001 says much about the relative thriftiness that nowadays characterises soccer's twice-yearly transfer windows.
Vieri joined French side AS Monaco from AC Milan for an undisclosed fee and Milan replaced him with Brazilian striker Marcio Amoroso. Milan also agreed to offload Dutch defender Jaap Stam to Ajax Amsterdam in July.
However, the clubs leading Europe's major leagues -- Barcelona in Spain, Juventus in Italy, Chelsea in England and Bayern Munich in Germany -- barely dipped a toe in the market.
The spending power of the English Premier League meant that plenty of money still changed hands and an air of panic buying reigned at Portsmouth.
Flush with the cash of a new co-owner, they bought themselves almost an entire team but even with nine new faces manager Harry Redknapp still has a huge task to lift them out of the relegation zone.
In a month when they revealed record annual losses of 140 million pounds ($248 million), champions Chelsea settled for the loan signing of Portugal midfielder Maniche from Dynamo Moscow.
Their parsimonious attitude is likely to continue according to chief executive Peter Kenyon, who said: "One of the key aspects of our future business is to spend less on transfers and grow more of our home-grown talent."

BOLD ARSENAL
In contrast rivals Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal all invested significant sums.
United added defenders Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra for a combined cost of about 12 million pounds and European champions Liverpool also reinforced their rearguard with Daniel Agger and Jan Kromkamp.
Former England striker Robbie Fowler has returned to Anfield on a free transfer from Manchester City, who themselves splashed out six million pounds on young Greek striker Georgios Samaras from Dutch club Heerenveen.
West Ham United surprised many by paying as much as seven million pounds for Norwich City's uncapped striker Dean Ashton.
The respective acquisitions by Birmingham City and Fulham of Celtic striker Chris Sutton and Chelsea's England left back Wayne Bridge looked astute, as did Tottenham Hotspur's late move for another England hopeful, Charlton midfielder Danny Murphy.
The boldest move in England, however, was Arsenal's swoop for unproven Southampton 16-year-old Theo Walcott for a fee of five million pounds that could rise to 12 million. Even more importantly for Arsene Wenger's team, French striker Thierry Henry declared at the start of the month he wanted to stay at the club, although no new deal had been agreed by the end of January.
Bayern received in similar boost merely by the fact that Germany captain Michael Ballack did not leave, although the midfielder's future after the World Cup remains in doubt. France defender Willy Sagnol, however, did sign a new deal.
French champions and Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Lyon spent three million euros on Switzerland defender Patrick Mueller and second-placed Girondins Bordeaux netted Portugal defender Beto from Sporting Lisbon.
In Scotland, league leaders Celtic bought former Rangers striker Kenny Miller, who will become only the third player to represent both Glasgow rivals, but waved goodbye to on-loan China defender Du Wei.

LONDON, (Reuters) - Chelsea's first-choice goalkeeper Petr Cech has signed a two-year contract extension that commits him to the champions until 2010.
"I am very pleased. When I joined Chelsea I just wanted to get in the team and win some trophies," the 23-year-old Czech said on the club's official website on Wednesday.
"I managed that last season and have been rewarded with a new contract already. Now I want to win some more trophies."
Cech's rival for the Chelsea keeper's jersey, Italian Carlo Cudicini, signed a one-year contract extension last month which ties him to the Premier League leaders until 2009.
Cech joined Chelsea from French club Rennes for 7.0 million pounds ($12.43 million) in June 2004 and his displays were key to Chelsea winning their first English league title in 50 years last season.
Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said of Cech: "He had a fantastic season in his first year and established himself as one of the top goalkeepers in the world.
"It was always our intention to keep him for longer than his initial contract as he has a key role to play in the long-term development and success of the team."

MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton has vowed that he will not back down on his demand to be made one of the club's highest earners, increasing the likelihood that he will be sold this summer.
Barton asked for a transfer earlier this week after turning down a new contract worth a reported 28,750 pounds a week (51,000 dollars) on the grounds that his performances have earned him the right to be considered one of the club's most valuable assets.
"I want to be put in line with the top earners at the club and that hasn't happened," Barton said Wednesday.
"I did think I'd get it but City have come back with a different value. I was told to take it or leave it.
"It may have been a bit impetuous of me to hand in a transfer request but I felt the offer was not good enough."
Although City turned down a verbal offer for Barton from Middlesbrough on Wednesday, manager Stuart Pearce has insisted that the club's offer will not be increased, so it now seems likely that the player will be sold in the summer.
Barton is certain to attract interest from a number of clubs with Arsenal reported to be very interested in acquiring the 23-year-old.

By Kenny MacDonald.

GLASGOW, (Reuters) - Hearts manager Graham Rix is relishing the Scottish Premier league title chase with a complete new team after signing 11 players.
The Edinburgh club paraded five players at Tynecastle on the final day of the transfer window on Tuesday before luring three more before the midnight deadline, swelling Rix's total signing spree to 11.
Hearts signed Slovakian international defender Martin Petras in a six-month loan deal from Lithuanian club FBK Kaunas, also owned by Hearts chairman Vladimir Romanov.
They snapped up Czech striker Ludek Straceny, also on a six-month loan from FBK, plus teenage French goalkeeper Rais M'bolhi Ouhab on a six-month contract following his release from Marseille.
Top of the deals was the club record 800,000 pound ($1.42 million) capture of Bosnian midfielder Mirsad Beslija from Racing Genk of Belgium on a three-and-a-half year contract.
Rix also coaxed former Dundee and Hibernian manager Jim Duffy to join his backroom staff as a coach.
He told the club website: "It has been hard work, but it's worth it.
"When it comes to fruition like this then I am chuffed to bits."
Hearts are second in Premier League table with 50 points from 24 games, eight points behind leaders Celtic.
Rix added: "We mean business. We are trying to carry on what we have done already this season and improve on it and we now have a proper squad."
The Englishman replaced George Burley, who began the Hearts revolution under Lithuanian banking tycoon Romanov when they surged top of the table with an astonishing unbeaten run of 11 games including winning their first eight fixtures.
A bust-up between Romanov and Burley led to the Scot being axed in October and Rix taking over in November.

MADRID (AFP) - Sweden forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic heads a list of young stars targeted by Spanish giants Real Madrid to join its band of Galacticos, according to sports daily newspaper AS.
Madrid are keen to revive its aging ranks with some young blood and the 24-year-old Juventus striker is one of six players being trailed by the nine-time European champions.
Also coveted are Arsenal's 25 year-old left-back Ashley Cole, a long-term target, Liverpool's Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso, 24, Schalke's Denmark midfielder Christian Poulsen, 25, Cologne's German forward Lukas Podolski, 20 and 19-year-old Osasuna midfielder Raul Garcia.
After winning three UEFA Champions League titles in five years between 1998 and 2002 and last lifting the Spanish title in 2003, Madrid have been playing second fiddle to Valencia and bitter rivals Barcelona domestically, while also flattering to deceive in Europe.
Aging players such as Spain defender Fernando Hierro and Portugal winger Luis Figo have already been shown the door in the last two close-seasons and now Madrid are keen to reduce the average age of their first team squad.
"Plan 2006: Ibrahimovic and five young guns," read the AS headline on Tuesday before predicting that the Swede will play as a second striker off Ronaldo in the new-look Galactico stikeforce next season.
AS claims Ibrahimovic will set Real back 40-45 million euros although it seems unlikely that the club, which was once more than 300 million euros in debt, can finance such a large spending spree on six players, each likely to cost a minimum of 10 million euros.
The newspaper goes on to claim that Poulsen will replace fellow Dane Thomas Gravesen in midfield with the former Everton man leaving in June.
Cole is slated to take the place of Brazilian full-back Roberto Carlos who has found himself the target of abuse among sections of home fans in the last two campaigns.
AS dispelled concerns that Real would suffer from bringing in so many young recruits, stating: "The players are all under 26 but loaded with experience."
Madrid have been prolifically signing young talent in the last year, bringing in highly rated Brazil forwards Robinho and Julio Baptista as well as Italian starlet Antonio Cassano from Roma.