World Sports Information Thursday

O’Neill lays down the law
Agence France-Presse . Birmingham
Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill is refusing to budge in the Gareth Barry transfer tug of war after warning Liverpool he will only sell the England midfielder for 18 million pounds (22.6 million euros).
O’Neill has turned down four bids of up to 15 million pounds (18.8 million euros) from Liverpool for the Villa captain and even wrote to the Anfield club to spell out his position.
Barry’s attempts to force O’Neill’s hand by publicly demanding a move cut little ice with the Villa boss, who fined the player and banned him from the training ground after he criticised O’Neill in a Sunday newspaper article.
O’Neill would consider taking Liverpool defender Steve Finnan as part of the deal, although the clubs disagree over the Republic of Ireland international’s valuation. With Liverpool struggling to raise the cash to meet O’Neill’s fee, the saga has reached a stalemate, which only Benitez and his board can resolve according to O’Neill.
‘We’re still waiting to hear back from Liverpool after putting that proposal to them,’ O’Neill said. ‘It’s really up to Liverpool. I really don’t know how it’s going to work out at the moment. I’m sure there will be some sort of resolution at some stage or another.’


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Schumacher takes yellow jersey
Agence France-Presse . Cholet
Australia’s Cadel Evans struck a first blow to Alejandro Valverde at the Tour de France here Tuesday after leaving his yellow jersey rival trailing on the fourth stage time trial.
Germany’s Stefan Schumacher of the Gerolsteiner team stunned the pre-race favourites to win the 29.5km race against the clock in a time of 35min 44sec.
However, Silence-Lotto rider Evans, and Luxembourg’s yellow jersey hopeful Kim Kirchen, of Team Columbia, made sure they stole a share of the limelight in what was the yellow jersey favourites’ first big appointment.
Kirchen, an outsider for the race’s big prize, finished second at 18secs behind Schumacher, with Scotland’s David Millar in third also at 18.
Evans was fourth at 27, while Valverde, who wore the yellow jersey for the first three days after winning the first stage, was way off the pace finishing in 23rd place at 1:34.
Having started the day with a one-second lead on Evans, the Spaniard is now 1:07 behind the Australian, who finished runner-up to Spaniard Alberto Contador at last year’s Tour, where Valverde finished sixth.
At this early stage and ahead of crucial stages in the Pyrenees then the Alps Evans is not getting too carried away.
‘It’s a good start but we’re a long, long way to Paris,’ said Evans.
‘For now, it’s a good start. Every second, and every minute I can gain on him (Valverde) is very good.’
Valverde had a comparatively slow start, and never really recovered over the rolling, windy course.
But he has warned there is plenty of racing left.
‘I started slowing and saved my strength for the final half. It was okay and things went better than expected,’ said the 28-year-old.
‘We’re only four days into this Tour, so we can’t judge things too much from what’s happened so far. There’s still a lot of Tour ahead of us and still a lot of Valverde that the world will see.
‘I didn’t want to lose too much time to my GC rivals, so I’m pretty satisfied how things went.’
Schumacher said winning the race’s first time trial, leaving Switzerland’s world champion Fabian Cancellara in fifth at a massive 33secs, was his only surprise.
‘A lot of guys told me this circuit was good for me because it’s really up and down, not too flat. And the distance, between 20 and 30 km is good for me,’ said Schumacher, who won the Amstel Gold Race last year.
‘Cancellara was the big favourite, even for me. So to be half a minute faster than him was a big surprise for me.’
Cancellara usually excels over the longer distances of 50-55km, and will be expected to make amends on the penultimate stage time trial of the race.
But the Swiss admitted that his victory plan just never got going.
‘I could not find the sensations and the rhythm I usually need to have a good performance,’ said Cancellara, who wore the yellow jersey for a week last year after winning the London prologue.
Russian Denis Menchov, who lost 38secs to his big rivals on Monday’s stage, did well to finish just behind Cancellara and is now 11th overall at 1:12 behind Schumacher and 51secs behind Evans.
Spaniard Carlos Sastre, another yellow jersey contender, lost 1:16 to Evans and is now 1:22 behind Evans.
Sastre, of CSC, was however optimistic.
‘Losing 1:16 to Evans, who is a great time triallist, or a minute to Menchov is a satisfying result for me,’ said the Spanish climber, a former podium finisher at the Tour.
‘Now, the mountains are up ahead and I’m sure they will be kinder to me.’
Wednesday’s stage is a 232km ride from Cholet to Chateauroux and is likely to be dominated by the sprinters, who have yet to contend a bunch sprint.
However, the yellow jersey action could continue on Thursday, when the peloton hit the first serious climbs leading to Super-Besse.
It is terrain that Kirchen, who finished seventh overall on the Tour last year, will be looking to exploit, according to his Team Columbia manager Rolf Aldag.
‘Our biggest aim today was not to win the stage, it was to limit our time losses to the big favourites and I think we did that well,’ he told AFP.
‘Kim is not the big favourite for the yellow jersey, but we’ll be sticking to our focus of supporting him as much as much as we can.
‘After today he will be considered more as a favourite and I’m sure they’re not going to forget about him in the stage to Super-Besse.’


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Scolari won’t pull any punches
in title fight
Agence France-Presse . London
Luiz Felipe Scolari has warned Chelsea’s rivals that he won’t pull any punches in the Premier League title fight.
Scolari has never been afraid to deliver a knockout blow on or off the pitch and the Brazilian was quick to emphasise his street-fighting credentials as he set his sights on English football’s heavy-weights.
The 59-year-old is a shrewd operator who knows exactly what buttons to push to get the best out of his players. But he also has a fiery temperament that occasionally flares in spectacular fashion.
Scolari’s most famous eruption came during his time as Portugal coach when he punched Serbia’s Ivica Dragutinovic following a touchline clash in a Euro 2008 qualifier.
As a newcomer in the Premier League, Scolari could have opted to keep a low profile while he finds his feet.
But although he insists he has the utmost respect for his opponents, he won’t be standing on ceremony when he goes head to head with
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger and Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez.
‘Am I still a fighter? Maybe! I’ve been involved in situations like other coaches. It’s normal,’ Scolari said.
‘I fight for my beliefs. But I respect other people. The other coaches, the fans. I respect them.
‘I know some referees make mistakes because everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes are important but, afterwards, there will be no problem.
‘The last time was difficult to explain. I’m now friends with the boy we had the fight with, Dragutinovic. But no, I’m not friends with Javier Clemente (Serbia coach).’
Scolari doesn’t suffer fools gladly but his desire transmits to his players with impressive effect.
He commanded total respect from the Brazil squad he led to 2002 World Cup glory, while several of the Portugal team he took to the Euro 2004 final regard him as a father-figure.
He is determined to foster the same kind of rapport
among the millionaire egos at Chelsea.
‘Until now, everything I have fought for and tried to achieve I have done. Even when it was very difficult, I got there and my team is the same,’ he said.
‘Maybe in this season we will have many difficult moments. But we will arrive there, sure. I am determined to do that. I coached in Saudi Arabia, at Gremio, Palmeiras, it was the same. We arrived where we wanted to be.’
‘It is impossible for me to say if we’ll win this championship or that one because I will try to say to the players, after tomorrow, one year, we will play the League Cup the same as we play the Champions League.’
Jose Mourinho is cast from a similiar mould to Scolari and his Chelsea reign ended because couldn’t maintain a working relationship with Roman Abramovich.
Yet the Brazilian has no intention of being a yes-man for the Blues owner either.
‘I am the coach. It’s my job to say ‘this player is the best; this one isn’t the best’,’ Scolari said.
‘I clarified with Roman. He said that I have control of the numbers. If somebody comes, somebody has to go. They’re okay with this.
‘All of the players at the club I haven’t chosen because I arrived three days ago.
‘But if I believe that they are the best for Chelsea, I’ll put them on the field. No problem. In the future? It is my decision to put the players in the field or not.’
Scolari conceded there will be plenty of changes as he trims Chelsea’s over-sized 32-man squad down to no more than 25 players. He insisted Frank Lampard will stay for at least a year, but several others including Didier Drogba look set to leave.
Those remaining will come under the watchful eye of psychologist Regina Brandao, who Scolari uses to compile profiles of his players.
‘When Regina is free, I will invite her to come here and visit us,’ Scolari said.
‘She gives me the profile for the players. She tells me, for this player you need to follow this way. And in the group, what I need to correct.’
Ten months after Mourinho departed, it seems Stamford Bridge will be top of the bill for touchline drama again.


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Stars in a quandary as clubs
get tough over Olympics
Agencies . Hamburg
Some of Europe’s top football players are on collision course with their clubs over the right to be able to represent their countries at next month’s Olympic Games. Two of the biggest names in the game - Brazilian Ronaldinho and Argentinian Lionel Messi - have been nominated for their nations’ Olympic squads, much to the annoyance of Spanish giants Barcelona.
Ronaldinho had barely been named by Brazil coach Carlos Dunga for the Games when Barca officials objected, even though the 28-year-old has been deemed surplus to requirements at the club.
‘Ronaldinho has to report for training next Monday,’ read a club statement.
‘The Olympics do not feature in the FIFA calendar and there are no special rulings on the issue, so the club is not obliged to release its players.’
Barcelona’s statement made no mention of 21-year-old striker Lionel Messi, who has been included in the squad of defending Olympic champions Argentina.
However, sports director Txiki Begiristain recently told Marca sports daily that Barcelona wanted the maximum number of players available for the Champions League qualifying stage.
‘Our objective is to go into the preliminaries with all our players, including Messi,’ he said.
‘We understand the importance of playing the preliminary round. We think that we are right and the player should not be freed by us.’
Barcelona, who finished third in La Liga behind champion Real Madrid and Villarreal, are involved in Champions League qualifying matches during the August 7-23 Olympic football tournament.
The Olympic tournament is an under-23 affair but each participating team is allowed to include three over-age players. However, the tournament falls outside of the international calendar and clashes with the start of the league seasons in Europe.
FIFA president Joseph Blatter appealed in February to clubs ‘to consider a flexible approach’ on over-age players.
However, a FIFA statement at the time also acknowledged that the competition was outside the international calendar and ‘is not specifically mentioned in the release provisions of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.’
In Germany, Werder Bremen are resisting Diego’s desire to compete at the Games after the 23-year-old midfielder was named in the Brazil squad, while Schalke 04 said they would not release 22-year-old defender Rafinha, also chosen by Dunga.
Both clubs feel there is little FIFA can do if the players, although both considered as under-23, are not released.
‘It’s clear that if we don’t release Diego, we won’t face any sanctions,’ Bremen general manager Klaus Allofs said.
Schalke’s new coach Fred Rutten said Rafinha had not approached him about the Games ‘and that is a good thing.’
League and cup winners Bayern Munich had made it clear early on they would not be prepared to release Argentina defender Martin Demichelis or Brazilian defender Lucio. Both had been keen to participate as over-age players, but neither player was nominated.
Bayern manager Uli Hoeness said the club would not stand in the way of an Olympics participation for two other players, 22-year-old Argentinian midfielder Jose Ernesto Sosa and 18-year-old Brazilian defender Breno, who are named in the respective squads.
‘The World Cup is there for these players, not the Olympics. The Olympics is for players under 23,’ Hoeness said.
Others have been persuaded it would be in their best interests not to travel to China. SV Hamburg’s Belgium defender Vincent Kompany decided against playing at the Games after talks with Hamburg sports director Dietmar Beiersdorfer.
‘We told him it would be better for him if he stays in Hamburg for the entire preparations (for the new season),’ he said.
Other clubs facing the loss of players are Real Madrid whose striker Robinho has been chosen by Brazil.
The Olympics is the only significant title five-time world champions Brazil have never won, and Dunga has also selected Manchester United midfielder Anderson, Manchester City’s new record signing Jo and Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva as he attempts to win a first football gold for the nation.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez could also lose midfielder Javier Mascherano, one of three over-age players along with Juan Roman Riquelme of Boca Juniors and Inter Milan defender Nicolas Burdisso in the Argentina squad.
Bayern defender Breno said he could understand the clubs views on releasing players, but pointed out that for South Americans the Olympic tournament is of far greater significance than in Europe. Bayern team-mate Sosa agreed: ‘For me the Olympics is very important. As a player you only have one chance in a lifetime to take part.
‘Of course, it’s not a good thing to miss out on training for the new Bundesliga season but for Argentinians it is incredibly important to play for our country.’


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Calderon to Nadal: We’ve
got Cristiano
New Age Desk
Tennis champ Rafael Nadal got some more good news after winning Wimbledon — he was told his beloved Real Madrid had signed Cristiano Ronaldo.
Real president Ramon Calderon told club fanatic Nadal the deal for the Manchester United ace was ‘done and dusted’.
The two spoke just hours after 22-year-old Nadal had beaten Roger Federer in their Centre Court final epic on Sunday.
It confirms Real are not ending their £70million pursuit of Ronaldo despite the Premier League champions’ insistence they will not sell.
Nadal met Calderon in the grounds of the All England Club on Sunday night and a Spanish-speaking onlooker heard him ask: ‘OK, President, where’s this Cristiano Ronaldo we’re supposed to be signing?’
The Real chief replied: ‘Relax, Rafa, everything’s under control and we’ve got him done and dusted.’
Real are now hoping Ronaldo will bring the saga to an end by publicly saying he intends to quit Old Trafford.
A fan who got to see the star in hospital as he recovered from an ankle op said Ronaldo told him: ‘I hope I’ll be as good in Spain as I was in England.’
David Jolly, 23 — whose dad is Portuguese — sneaked into Ronaldo’s room in Amsterdam. He told The Sun: ‘As we left my father said, ‘Good luck in Madrid’ and Cristiano made his remark.
‘He said it with a big smile. It left us in no doubt about his intention to go to Spain. He talked like he was already going.’
He may be on his way, but Ronaldo, 23, was struggling as he left Amsterdam yesterday — with his crutches.
He limped through Schiphol Airport before boarding a plane to Lisbon — but will his final destination be Manchester or Madrid?


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Beijing in Ronaldinho’s plans
Associated Press . Sao Paulo
Ronaldinho plans to play for Brazil at the Olympics in defiance of the wishes of his FC Barcelona club.
‘I do not see myself being left out of Beijing,’ Ronaldinho said during a news conference at a charity event on Tuesday. ‘I see myself in the Olympics doing good things and bringing home the gold medal.’
Ronaldinho was selected to Brazil’s Olympic squad on Monday, but a day later Barcelona posted a statement on its website saying the former world player of the year ‘will have to report for training on Monday, the first session of the 2008-09 season.’
‘The Olympics do not form part of the official FIFA calendar, and no official decision has ever been made in that respect, so the club is under no obligation to allow its player to travel,’ the statement said.
The Brazilian star, who last played on March 9, was still under contract with Barcelona, even though he has been linked with transfers to Manchester City and AC Milan.
Brazil is scheduled to gather in two weeks for the Olympics - the only significant title it has never won.
‘I feel very motivated and happy for having been summoned to the team,’ Ronaldinho said. ‘My aim is now to prepare myself for the Olympic Games - an honour few players have received.’
Ronaldinho’s agent and brother, Roberto de Assis, said he was also confident that Ronaldinho would be going to Beijing.
‘Barcelona has always treated Ronaldinho very well and we are sure everything will work out and that we will be going to Beijing,’ he said.


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Coupet dreams of 2010 WC
Agence France-Presse . Madrid
Atletico Madrid’s new 35-year-old goalkeeper Gregory Coupet said Tuesday that he hopes to still be part of France’s squad during the 2010 World Cup as he was officially unveiled by the Spanish club.
Asked if he intended to be France’s keeper at the tournament in South Africa, he said: ‘Playing for Atletico and the possibility of playing in the Champions League allow me to continue to think, to dream of the French squad.’
Coupet, who had been linked to English League Cup winners Tottenham, said he had come to Spain ‘to try to show that I have a place in the starting line-up to defend’. Atletico signed Coupet for the next two seasons. He represented France at Euro 2008 and has been capped 34 times.
The Spanish side are in the qualifying round of the Champions League after finishing fourth in the Primera Liga last season. Coupet had a clause in his Lyon contract running to 2010 allowing him to leave Lyon, with whom he has won seven straight league titles, for three million euros, but the Spanish side finally got their man for half that.
Atletico will pay an extra 500,000 euros if Coupet helps them qualify for the Champions League in the next two seasons.


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Romario and Schumacher turn
down Champs League chance
Reuters/Bdnews24.com . Milan
Retired Brazil striker Romario and ex-Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher have declined an offer to play for San Marino’s SS Murata in their Champions League first qualifying round match at home to Gothenburg next Tuesday.
Romario’s fellow Brazil World Cup winner Aldair, 42, will play in the first-leg match however.
‘On May 23 Romario’s father died and he told Aldair that he didn’t feel it was right to leave everyone to come and play. It is a shame because we were close to this dream,’ Murata sporting director Denis Casadei told Italian media.
He said Germany’s retired seven times Formula One world champion Schumacher, a keen soccer player who sometimes turns out for his local club FC Echichens in Switzerland, had also turned down the chance to be involved. Murata, who have won back-to-back doubles in the tiny landlocked republic near Italy’s Adriatic coast, recruited Aldair for last year’s Champions League campaign.
However, they were eliminated 4-1 on aggregate by Finnish club Tampere United in the first qualifying round.


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Galliani: It’s Ronnie or Adebayor
Agencies . Milan
AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani insists the Italians will sign only one of Emmanuel Adebayor and Ronaldinho - which could spell good news for Manchester City.
The pair have been linked with switches to the San Siro this summer, with Galliani claiming Arsenal have sent him a letter saying they are willing to discuss a deal for Adebayor but remaining tight-lipped regarding Barcelona’s Ronaldinho.
However, the 64-year-old insists any deal for one would end interest in the other, with the possibility of two big-name new signings having a negative effect on the Rossoneri - and Adebayor, who scored 30 goals in 48 games for Arsenal last season, appears to be Galliani’s first choice.
If Milan do turn to the Togo striker, it would therefore leave City as the only bidders for Ronaldinho. ‘Let’s be clear about this: Adebayor is the alternative to Ronaldinho and vice-versa,’ Galliani said in a statement on the club’s official site.
‘We consider Kaka and (Alexandre) Pato first-team players. Having two players of the calibre of Adebayor and Ronaldinho would create a lot of problems in the dressing room.’ On Adebayor, who the Gunners value at around £36million, he added: ‘If Adebayor decides to leave Arsenal, we are certainly interested.