Sports
guardian.co.uk Sport
11/20/2008 12:01 AM - Views: 4 Rating: -
New Zealand have won their last 19 Tests against Wales but their captain, Richie McCaw, is expecting the men in red to provide the greatest threat to his hopes of a grand slam tour. The All Blacks return to the Millennium Stadium, scene of their World Cup exit last year, on Saturday.The All Blacks have beaten Scotland (32-6) and Ireland (22-3) to reach the halfway stage of their tour without conceding a Test try - Munster scored one in the tourists' 18-16 win in Limerick on Tuesday - but McCaw believes Wales will be a step up and New Zealand have chosen their strongest available side to face the Six Nations champions."Wales will pose the biggest challenge to us physically and, if their front five performs, they have the ability behind to run amok," said McCaw. "We had a classic game against them four years ago when we won by a point and the likes of Shane Williams and Lee Byrne are dangerous when given space. If you get things wrong against them, you are in for a long day."McCaw was this week accused by the former Australia coach Bob Dwyer of serial cheating at the breakdown and profiting from the failure of referees to penalise him. But he has been shown a yellow card against Wales before and was penalised a number of times during the World Cup quarter-final defeat by France in Cardiff in October 2007."I am not worried about what people say about my play at the breakdown," said McCaw. "It is a simple area of the game but because things happen so fast and referees have so little time to decide who is doing what, confusion sometimes arises and there are different interpretations. The bottom line is that the further you get across the advantage line, the simpler it becomes."New Zealand's head coach, Graham Henry, is back in the country where he was head coach for four years from 1998. He admitted yesterday that he had feared the World Cup would mark his last experience of the Millennium Stadium."I did not think I would be coming back as the All Blacks' coach immediately after that game," said Henry. "Everything was in a state of flux. What has happened since is a long story which has been told a million times and I do not intend to make it a million and one. I have had some positive times in Cardiff and some disappointments."Henry's sole change from the victory over Ireland is enforced: the centre Conrad Smith has a groin injury and is replaced by Richard Kahui. The front row will be finalised later in the week.The Welsh Rugby Union yesterday appointed the 44-year-old former England attack coach Joe Lydon as head of rugby development and performance. Wigan's chairman and owner, Ian Lenagan, voiced his regret at losing Lydon's services as performance director. "We are disappointed that Joe is leaving but take it as a compliment that the Welsh Rugby Union have taken note of the innovative performance development work being done in rugby league at Wigan and the quality of our people," he said.Bristol are looking for new investors to help stem losses which are running at £1m a year. "We are talking to several groups," said the club's chief executive, Steve Gorvett. "We are feeling the pinch but we are not alone - all Premiership clubs are below budget and industry estimates of the combined losses for this year range between £12m and £20m. It is likely to be a tough winter on and off the pitch." New Zealand Muliaina; Rokocoko, Kahui, Nonu, Sivivatu; Carter, Cowan; Woodcock or Tialata or Afoa, Mealamu, Woodcock or Tialata or Afoa, Thorn, Williams, Kaino, McCaw (capt), So'oialo. Replacements Flynn, tbc, Boric, Read, Weepu, Donald, Toeava.Autumn internationalsWales rugby union teamNew Zealand rugby union teamRugby unionguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
guardian.co.uk Sport
11/20/2008 12:12 PM - Views: 4 Rating: -Dogs bark, cats miaow and sinking nine billion quid into any sporting event is a form of insanity. But while calls for a 1948-style "austerity Olympics" may strike a popular chord, the prospects of our getting one are nil. At this stage in the Games, cost cutting can occur only at the margins. Deals have been done, contracts signed and pledges made. Zaha Hadid's self-inflating aquatic centre is already happening. From the dirt of Stratford, the skeleton of a £500m stadium now rises. Live with it, fellow Britons: it's a case of in for a penny, in for a whole lot of pounds, and there's no point dreaming that it can be otherwise.Yesterday the first conclusions of a review by KPMG of the cost of planned temporary venues emerged. The number-crunchers were called in at the insistence of London mayor and Olympic Board member Boris Johnson to see if serious savings would accrue from the sports in question taking place in facilities that already exist.Ultra-economisers have been frustrated by the finding that no financial gain would result from abandoning constructing a 12,000 seat basketball stadium in the Olympic Park and holding the whole hoops-la at Wembley Arena instead. Apart from anything else there was a headroom issue with the changing rooms - at least that's what The Blond said the other week. Raising ceilings to accommodate seven-footers would not come cheap. Neither would digging trenches for them.The accountants came to the same view about stately Greenwich Park, where all the equestrian events are scheduled to be held. These include not only the dressage, jumping, cross-country and the paralympic event, but also the horsey leg of the modern pentathalon.The latter presented a particular problem in that all five elements have to be completed on the same day, which means the different venues can't be too spread out. Shifting the gee-gee action out of town, as some desire, wouldn't work for these competitors. An entirely separate course would have to be constructed for them somewhere else nearby.In other cases, it seems KPMG is minded to suggest lower-cost alternatives to present plans: Locog chief executive Paul Deighton revealed yesterday morning that a temporary 6,000-capacity arena for badminton, rhythmic gymnastics and paralympic volleyball now looks like not being assembled; it is reported that an alternative will be found to a disposable arrangement at Woolwich Barracks for the shooting. And with Johnson in particular pressing to keep the budget under control – he's eager to be seen as the prudent custodian of Londoners' cash - other economies are on the cards.These may be significant but still small in the greater scheme of things. And do we really want it to be otherwise? Few will shed tears if private sector parsimony means we hacks have to make do with less opulent facilities than were originally envisaged due to the downturn, but the Games media centre is supposed to become its biggest legacy for the borough of Hackney. On behalf of my fellow residents, may I say that that's an austerity outcome we don't need.As for the sporting settings and general oompah-flummery, I've no problem with stupid or avoidable extravagances being culled. But the wrong sort of thrift on our authorities' part could prove counter-productive. Like or not – and I don't, much – the Games is a massive PR exercise for Brand Britain and if we end up looking cheap, the whole mad, romantic, egomaniacal investment will be even less likely to pay off. A cost-effective Games is essential. A frugal one would produce losses for us all.Read more from Dave Hill's London blog hereOlympic games 2012Boris JohnsonLondonLondon politicsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
guardian.co.uk Sport
11/20/2008 12:01 AM - Views: 4 Rating: -
Calling for an end to international friendlies is like campaigning for a clean-shaven Santa Claus. Why bother? It will not happen any time soon and for pretty much the same reasons as Father Christmas is not about to undergo a makeover - it would upset the children, or at least the childish, and leave the commercial department heartbroken.Leaving aside the miserable exception of the Scottish Football Association struggling to break even on last night's friendly against Diego Maradona's Argentina (quite an achievement in the circumstances), these events are traditionally lucrative affairs for national associations, not least because they fulfil contractual obligations to corporate sponsors and luxury box-holders who have paid ludicrous sums on the promise of attending a set number of international fixtures.There is also a political dimension, in which the powerbrokers of international football get to boss around the upstarts who run club football for a few days - a bizarre inversion of the modern game's true power structure, one the leading clubs continue to tolerate for reasons that are best known to their team psychologists.This uncharacteristic selflessness on the part of the Champions League elite has a certain novelty value but it does beg the question - for how much longer? On the evidence of a week in which many of England's senior players apparently fell victim to what might delicately be described as a treatment-room version of the McClintock effect, with all their hamstring strains and achilles problems mysteriously synchronised, the answer seems to be "not much longer".Fabio Capello did not help the cause (his own or that of international football) with his insistence that Steven Gerrard be assessed by England's doctors after being declared unfit by Liverpool - a gesture that proved even the most serious individuals can fall victim to childish impulses during international friendly week.Yet if Capello fell short of his own high standards of maturity, he was a veritable Thales when measured against Terry Butcher, who used the platform afforded by his status as Scotland's assistant manager to dredge up some ancient history involving Maradona and England. Apparently the Argentinian infringed the rules by punching the ball into the net during a quarter-final match at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Precisely what any of this had to do with last night's contest at Hampden Park remains a mystery, although its airing did solidify the view of those who believe that Butcher, though a decent player in his day, is cut from the same managerial cloth as Mr Magoo and is about as deserving of a spot in any international dug-out.In response Maradona could have said any number of things but chose to say the most provocative thing of all, pointing out that England's third goal during the 1966 World Cup final should never have been allowed. So began the biggest row in football since, well, the previous day, when Capello allegedly fell out with Rafa Benítez over his insistence on dragging Gerrard down to Hertfordshire for a medical.All of this would be funny were it not so juvenile and, for the future of international football at least, dangerous. All publicity is good publicity, allegedly, but there is a point where publicity serves not to promote a sporting event but to accentuate its lack of credibility. This has never been more apparent than over the past few days, when the meaninglessness of last night's matches, apparent to all, left a vacuum that was filled by the childish ranting of Butcher and Maradona and the posturing of Capello.The names are different but the story is familiar; another dreary friendly international week, another episode in the downward spiral that can have only one destination. Clearly drastic action is required. Most drastic of all would be to stop international friendlies altogether. As said, that will not happen in the near future and it must be hoped it never will. But it is time to accept these games have a vastly diminished status in football and to place them accordingly in the calendar - during a designated period before the season starts.This would allow the players to get fit for the season ahead; it would give the managers more than enough time to assess the talent at their disposal; it would allow the fans the opportunity to support their team in relaxed circumstances; and it would generate more than enough money to keep the commercial department happy. In baseball they call it spring training. In football they could call it an innovative solution to a tiresome problem.Kings of the ring should cry quits and mean itAs the depressing talk of Lennox Lewis making a return to the ring persists and Evander Holyfield adds his name to the list of beaten-up and broke former champions intent on seriously damaging themselves by pursuing an impossible dream, the thought occurs that boxing has never been at a lower ebb. This is hardly an original thought, of course, but really, how much worse can it get? Alas, the answer came in a conversation with Freddie Roach, the Los Angeles-based trainer who is tasked with rebuilding the career of Amir Khan. "Any gossip, Freddie?" I asked him the other day. "You'll never guess who called me yesterday," he replied. "Prince Naseem. He wants to talk."Finchem's trouble in feeling the pinchIf there is a less self-aware figure in sport than Tim Finchem, the commissioner of the PGA Tour in America, he has yet to reveal himself."I am delighted to say the demise of the PGA Tour has been overstated considerably," said Finchem recently as he unveiled the tour's 2009 schedule, which included an overall increase in prize money, from $214m (£141.2m) to $222m (£146.5m). Such cockiness was unbecoming in the current economic circumstances, especially from an organisation that relies so heavily on sponsorship from the American financial industry, which in case Finchem had not noticed is laying off people more ruthlessly than Tiger Woods beats the opposition.Such cockiness also ran the risk of a karmic response and so it has proved when Buick - part of the near-bankrupt General Motors group - announced it would no longer be able to fulfil its obligations as the "official car of the PGA tour" and would not be providing courtesy cars at several events. This raises the prospect of players and officials having to rent cars at the airport, just like ordinary folks. Tim Finchem behind the wheel of a Hertz compact? The mere thought is enough to raise a smile in these straitened times.Gerard piqued over his fat chance of a game So many emotions are stirred by Gerard Piqué's revelations about the alleged failings he uncovered during his brief spell at Old Trafford before being shipped out to Barcelona: pity - that he felt it necessary to trash his former team-mates and their dietary habits; contempt - that he waited until he was long gone before speaking up; concern - that to his ears Sir Alex Ferguson's perfectly clear English sounded like Chinese; bemusement - that with all those fat, unfit bastards around he could not get a game in the first team.EnglandScotlandguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
guardian.co.uk Sport
11/20/2008 12:01 AM - Views: 3 Rating: -
"They call me the Magic Man because I'm a classy fighter, a master of my craft, a good-looking Italian kid from Brooklyn who came through a dark and gritty life to find something magical," says the preening and fast-talking Paulie Malignaggi. And then, because he is a decent man, sitting in the deserted lounge of his drab hotel in Henderson, a 30-minute drive from the glittering Las Vegas Strip, Malignaggi shakes his head."Well, to be honest, man," he says huskily, "I got the nickname because no one knew what to call me. And then before my third fight my promoter, Lou diBella, shocked the hell out of me. He got up at a press conference and said, 'Meet my new fighter, a future world champion, Paulie 'Magic Man' Malignaggi!' I looked at him like he was crazy. But the name stuck - and it helps that I finish every other sentence with the word 'man'. I got a real kick out of a headline the next day when it said 'Paulie Malignaggi - Magic, Man!' The comma is everything. That's the beauty of a comma, man."We could spend the rest of the afternoon marvelling at the wonders of punctuation but, with his fight against Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas on Saturday night looming over him, Malignaggi moves on. "Hatton don't look much like a guy who thinks about commas," the New Yorker grins. "But he is a gentleman. His family are gentlemanly. Real classy people. But he also has a capacity for the ridiculous. Did you hear him say he was gonna outbox me? A slick operator like me? That spurs me on. No doubt I've spurred him on by saying he lacks the talent to change his one-dimensional style."Malignaggi, at least in this relaxed mood, is a gentlemanly trash-talker. "I try to keep it sweet," he nods. "But trash-talking is fun and people want to see if a brash kid like me can live up to his patter. But whether you're nice or not-nice it's the same. They ring the bell and you're not exchanging pleasantries no more. You're smacking each other in the head, man."The brutal realities of boxing were evident on the night, two years ago, when Malignaggi lost his only fight in 26 bouts. Facing the formidable Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden, Malignaggi was headbutted in the opening round and knocked down in the second. That punch broke his cheekbone but Malignaggi fought back. At the end of 12 punishing rounds his face was grotesquely swollen, making him look like the Elephant Man."I still mark up now," he grimaces, pointing to a bruise under his eye. "I've got a metal plate above the cheekbone. But my real problem in that fight was that I couldn't breathe too well. Once the bone got busted, blood started seeping into my air passages. I was swallowing blood the whole fight."Afterwards, in his dressing room, Malignaggi collapsed. "In the ambulance I thought, 'Why do I do this? What drives me to go through such pain?'" adds the 27-year-old. "But by the time they laid me out on the hospital bed I was thinking, 'I've gotta fight this guy again!"Malignaggi enjoys talking about his colourful hairstyles and modelling snazzy suits for Esquire and Playboy, but there was little glamour that night - or throughout his childhood. "The Cotto fight was like my boyhood. Painful," he says. "My father took my mother, me and my brother from Sicily to New York. He got us one-way tickets but booked himself a return flight. He dumped us with my mother's parents, who had just arrived from Italy, and abandoned us. That was 1986. I didn't see or speak to him for another 12 years. That's cruel. "Then my mom met this other guy who became our stepfather. I call him my mother's husband because we don't have a good relationship. I try to be respectful but he has never apologised for beating the shit out of us - me and my mom. So one day me and my brother jumped him and we got kicked out of the house."I was in trouble then - not going to school, doing petty crime, stealing beepers. But my grandfather and uncle took me to the boxing gym. I loved it. It channelled my unhappiness into something positive."Malignaggi and his father, a former professional footballer in Italy, were reunited through boxing. In 1998, on a trip to Liverpool, Malignaggi was woken on the afternoon of his first amateur fight in England. "I opened my hotel door and this man stood there. I said, 'Sorry, mister, wrong room.' He kept grinning at me. I said, 'Buddy, you've made a mistake.' That was when he hugged me and told me he was my father."His eyes glazing briefly, Malignaggi shrugs awkwardly. "It was weird. To this day I don't have a great relationship with my dad. He let us down. I tell him that but my dad is like a 20-year-old in a 55-year-old body. He's always out, chasing girls. He's fun, but he don't act much like my father. Still, my life could have gone to shit but here I am - the Magic Man. The only thing I'm not content about is that I want to be more famous and recognised as the best in the world. This fight against Hatton gives me that chance."Malignaggi gave up his IBF light-welterweight title in order to challenge Hatton. "The winner between us will be the best in the world in this division. No question. My only worry is they might rob me because Hatton is promoted by Golden Boy - Oscar De La Hoya's company. And they're talking about De La Hoya fighting Hatton after this fight. So this is an in-house promotion, in Vegas, De La Hoya's town. I'm concerned, man."There is also anxiety about the state of Malignaggi's hands - especially the right which he broke again in his last fight. It was the fourth fracture of his career and, holding up his hand to the light, he traces the surgical scars. "No one expects me to win but I'm at my best with my back to the wall," he says. "It's just imperative I dominate Hatton so that they can't steal the decision. If I do that then, listen, you've got your headline: 'Magic, man!'"Five of his best boutsv Lovemore N'Dou June 6 2007Won on pointsHis jab shines in an energetic performance as Malignaggi claims the IBF title in this one-sided forerunner to a poor rematch in Manchesterv Miguel Cotto June 10 2006Lost on pointsLoses his unbeaten record, but bravely goes the distance in WBO light-welterweight title bout with the powerful Puerto Rican, despite a broken nose and cheekbonev Donald Camarena Feb 10 2006Won on pointsWins the WBC Continental Americas belt, as his speed proves his most potent weapon in a fight described by the referee as a 'boxing lesson' v Sandro Casamonica Dec 4 2004Won on technical decisionThe Magic Man impresses in his 19th bout without defeat despite facing an opponent apparently intent on injuring rather than defeating himv Kevin Watts Aug 1 2003Won on technical knockoutThe Brooklynite's 15th victory is the fifth and final to come by knockout, as two solid right hands in the sixth round put an overconfident Watts on the canvasMikey StaffordBoxingRicky Hattonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
guardian.co.uk Sport
11/20/2008 12:02 AM - Views: 3 Rating: -
Martin Hansson, the referee in Liverpool's Champions League game against Atlético Madrid a fortnight ago, has revealed he received death threats over his decision to award a late penalty to Steven Gerrard. The Swede gave a spot-kick in the final minute of stoppage time for what he perceived to be a push on Liverpool's captain by Mariano Pernía. Gerrard, who scored the penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw, admitted he would have been "livid" had the decision been made against his team. Hansson told the Swedish newspaper Sport-Expressen that he has given up his mobile telephone number and notified the police after getting a number of threatening calls and text messages. "I have received death threats. It has been horrible and feels very uncomfortable," he said. "The phone rang all the time and I had a great many text messages. I am pretty used to this but now I've had enough. It has been very threatening. I feel completely fed up. I have always had my mobile phone on and my number has been on the network. Now it no longer works. I'm sad that I can't be as open as I once was. I have notified the police that there have been threats against my life but it is difficult for the police to prove." Hansson said he would not follow the lead of his compatriot Anders Frisk, who quit as a referee in 2005 after receiving death threats following a Champions League game between Chelsea and Barcelona. "I'll keep on refereeing because I like it," he said. "I want to continue to believe that football can do a lot of good and it would be sad if these dark forces had any influence on me. I thought about quitting, absolutely, but I have made my decision to continue. But I never considered it [quitting] as much as right now." Meanwhile the referee Andre Marriner is to sit out this weekend's Premier League and Football League programmes after mistakenly sending off Wigan Athletic's Emmerson Boyce last Saturday at Newcastle United. Marriner gave Boyce a second yellow card for a tackle on Shola Ameobi which replays showed to be clean. His temporary withdrawal shows that the error has been viewed as serious.Howard Webb, acknowledged as England's top referee, is to help Stuart Attwell negotiate his comeback to the Premier League in Portsmouth's game at home to Hull on Saturday by acting as fourth official. This season Attwell has awarded Reading a phantom goal at Watford and his two questionable decisions punished Derby in a draw with Nottingham Forest.LiverpoolAtletico MadridSteven Gerrardguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
guardian.co.uk Sport
11/20/2008 12:38 AM - Views: 3 Rating: -
It is all very well creating a circus but what of the act? The hype and hysteria surrounding Diego Maradona's arrival in Scotland was stripped away last night and the immense challenge of leading Argentina into another golden era laid bare. It was a tentative first step for a team with designs on a third World Cup in 2010, a giant leap for a manager who has a legion of admirers but is confronting a world full of doubters, too.Maradona had arrived at Hampden Park as only he could, standing beside a drummer at the front of the Argentina team coach, banging the beat on the windows as he conducted his players in song. It was how he conducted them as a team that mattered, of course, and the clenched-fist salute that greeted the final whistle signalled a personal battle won. Argentina will rest a little easier today knowing there may be substance in their icon's surprise appointment after all."I have dedicated myself 100% this week to lifting the morale of the players," said Maradona. "We needed to get out of a bad run. We reached a low point with the defeat against Chile but it wasn't a case of blaming other people but working out why. The national association didn't sit back, they appointed a new coach and I have succeeded in removing the fear of defeat from the players. It has been a long time since we won and expressed ourselves on the pitch like that. Tonight we played for the blue and white and for the people of Argentina."Before last night Maradona had presided over only three wins in a 23-game managerial career but Hampden has always been an inviting arena for England's nemesis. "Thank you for 1986" proclaimed one banner in the Tartan Army section and, while there was no handshake with Terry Butcher - "Who is Butcher?" he asked, mischievously - victory gave Maradona sufficient ammunition against his detractors - for now. This was never an occasion for the 48-year-old to offer a conclusive answer in the debate over whether great players make great managers.As always in a legendary career, and sadly in this instance, drama remained a close companion. Argentina's head coach had given serious consideration to walking away from his first game in international management, at the scene of his first international goal in 1979, due to complications with his daughter's pregnancy. Sergio Agüero, Argentina's brilliant young striker and the partner of Giannina, returned home late on Tuesday night and only the instruction of his 18-year-old daughter prevented Maradona accompanying the Atlético Madrid star to the Spanish capital."Tonight I was thinking of my daughter Giannina and her baby," he said, prior to making that journey to a Madrid hospital late last night. "The lads have been a great support at a very difficult time for me. They wore the shirt with great pride. My daughter was happy for me to be the head of the Argentina national team and that is why I am here."Maradona had promised "a feast of football" for the Scottish crowd by way of a thank-you for the undying affection he won in these parts by punching England out of the 1986 World Cup. He did not promise, however, to be a manager obsessed with recreating past attacking glories at the expense of his defence. Without a Maradona on the field, and with Argentina having won only one of their last eight games, he cannot afford to be.The performance of the Argentina defence here highlighted an obvious flaw and improvement will be required if Maradona's men are to withstand more serious threats en route to South Africa. Fortunately the head coach has enviable talent elsewhere. Javier Mascherano, the reluctant new captain in place of Javier Zanetti, underpinned an otherwise encouraging display.Maradona began with a traditional 4-4-2 in name but with Newcastle's Jonás Gutiérrez and Maxi Rodríguez of Atlético Madrid given the freedom to support their forwards from the flanks, Argentina resembled a 4-2-4 during an opening when George Burley's team rarely saw the ball."For the first 25 minutes we were excellent but unfortunately after scoring our first goal we couldn't capitalise on any more chances," Maradona said. "But we were always in control of the ball and it was a deserved victory."The first goal of his reign was true to the architect's grand design, an immaculate one-touch move involving Zanetti, Carlos Tevez, Rodríguez, Tevez again, Gutiérrez and finally Rodríguez again bringing the visiting bench to its feet. Only Maradona stayed sitting. The man who as a spectator cheered his way through the 2006 World Cup in Germany sat with his arms folded before rising to nod his approval. The journey has begun.Diego MaradonaArgentinaScotlandguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
guardian.co.uk Sport
11/20/2008 12:02 AM - Views: 2 Rating: -
Roque Santa Cruz is keen to leave Blackburn Rovers and accept Manchester City's offer to sign for them in the January transfer window. Santa Cruz has become restless at Blackburn during a slump that has seen them drop into the relegation places, and the Paraguay international striker has told people involved in the deal that he wants to link up again with Mark Hughes, the man who brought him into English football.City failed with a £12m bid in August, but Hughes has asked the club's new owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group, to make an improved offer that could see Blackburn make up to four times the £4.5m they paid Bayern Munich for Santa Cruz in the summer of 2007.That is likely to meet opposition from Blackburn's manager, Paul Ince, who is desperate not to lose his most important forward at such a critical stage of the season. However, City have been increasingly encouraged by what they have heard behind the scenes and are confident of finally getting their man, providing they can agree a compromise over the fee.The matter is complicated because of Hughes's past connections with Santa Cruz's employers and the suspicion at City that Blackburn are reluctant to do business with them because, as City's executive chairman Garry Cook put it earlier this season: "We have already taken their manager and backroom staff off them."Nonetheless, City are in such a strong financial position since September's takeover they believe it will be no problem putting together a financial package that Blackburn will find impossible to resist. While most Premier League clubs structure transfer payments into various instalments, City are willing to pay Blackburn all the money in one lump sum.Santa Cruz is one of three established Premier League players who are regarded as priority signings by Hughes, the others being Lassana Diarra of Portsmouth and Chelsea's second-choice left back Wayne Bridge. Hughes is also looking for a goalkeeper to rival Joe Hart and at least one new centre-half, but the list of players leaving the club is expected to be even longer.Nery Castillo and Felipe Caicedo will quickly be ushered out of the door but the exodus could also involve Dietmar Hamann, Michael Ball, Javier Garrido, Darius Vassell, Nedem Onuoha and even the Brazil international Elano Blumer. The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Luka Modric has been ruled out for two weeks after he learned yesterday that his groin injury was more serious than first thought. He pulled up in the first half of Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Fulham and was substituted at the interval.He had an ultrasound scan on Sunday, which showed little more than a strain and then went to Croatia to visit his family, as his country did not have an international friendly. After further ultrasound there, which confirmed the original findings he continued to feel discomfort and, as a precaution, he had an MRI scan yesterday. It revealed a partial tear to the groin muscle, which will require rehabilitation. West Ham United's vice-chairman, Asgeir Fridgeirsson, said yesterday that the club will not have to sell players in the January transfer window despite one of their main shareholding companies, Hansa, heading into administration. He said: "West Ham is well-funded for the remainder of the year and I am convinced the club will go on, no matter what. We are not going to sell players to settle [the] debts of Hansa."Manchester CityBlackburn RoversPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
guardian.co.uk Sport
11/20/2008 12:02 AM - Views: 2 Rating: -
David James 6Punched Piotr Trochowski's free-kick away to show his quality having suffered jitters early on, such as when the winger crossed low into the box and prompted a weak punch. Not entirely reassuring, but rarely tested. Glen Johnson 8One fine sliding challenge on Trochowski set the early tone and there was energy and threat to the full-back's performance. Indeed, his fine intervention should have set up Marcus Bent for a second.Matthew Upson 6Still occasionally shaky at the back, with his distribution hit and miss, but vastly improved from last month's nervy displays. A poached first international goal from Rene Adler's flap was fine reward for his improvement.John Terry 7Commanded with typical authority until indecision, sparked by an unfamiliarity with Scott Carson, supplied Helmes with an equaliser. Redeemed himself and rescued England with a fine headed winner.Wayne Bridge 7Linked well with Steward Downing, springing down the flank into space when Bastian Schweinsteiger drifted in-field. Germany were weaker down their right thanks to his excursions forward. Shaun Wright-Phillips 6If only his accuracy in the pass matched his enthusiasm. The winger was eager and unsettled Marvin Compper, but his delivery from corners was dismal. Happier in a central role and belted against the post from distance. Gareth Barry 8The Aston Villa midfielder looks the part. One fine early reverse pass was followed with a timely clearance to indicate his development at both ends of the pitch. Tenacious in the tackle, calm in possession.Michael Carrick 8Strode around central midfield oozing such class as to suggest he has been a regular on this stage for years. There was vision, assurance in the pass, time on the ball and invention to his game. Stewart Downing 8Far more threatening than Wright-Phillips', swinging in the ball for Upson's goal and forcing Tim Wiese to save a second-half free-kick. A stinging half-volley on half-time from a newly confident player.Jermain Defoe 6Infuriated to have wandered offside in the opening 80 seconds when put through by Agbonlahor, but linked up well enough with the debutant even if he rarely enjoyed a clear sight at goal.Gabriel Agbonlahor 8A sprightly opening to his international career, the striker almost setting up Defoe with his first touch, embarrassing his markers, particularly Simon Rolfes, with his searing pace. SubstitutesScott Carson (James, h-t) 4A first appearance since the shambles against Croatia at Wembley was wrecked by the horrible confusion with Terry, which presented Helmes with his equaliser. A sprawling save from Marin did not truly make amends.Darren Bent (Defoe, h-t) 5Quite how he missed having rounded the goalkeeper, only to shank his shot wide, will be beyond the Spurs forward.Ashley Young (Agbonlahor, 77) Introduced on the right flank late on.Referee Massimo Busacca (Swit)EnglandGermanyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds