SPORT | IN BRIEF March 11, 2010 FOOTBALL: Portsmouth’s hopes of survival received a huge boost yesterday after Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs announced it would not be pursuing its High Court dispute over the validity of the club’s administrator, Andrew Andronikou. A club spokesman said: “The Revenue has accepted the administration is valid.”
Unstoppable Rooney rips into Milan March 10, 2010 MANCHESTER UTD (4) vs AC MILAN (0) Man Utd win 7-2 on aggregate WAYNE Rooney ensured David Beckham’s long-awaited return to Old Trafford was far more bitter than sweet as Manchester United’s latest hero condemned their old one to a crushing European defeat. Rooney effectively ended the tie and swept United into the Champions League [...]
I’m haunted by Scots loss, admits Wilko March 10, 2010 JONNY WILKINSON says England’s defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield two years ago was one of the most painful experiences of his career. It was the afternoon when the fly-half broke the world record for international points, but that was about all he had to celebrate as he was hauled off 11 minutes from the end [...]
Arsenal’s Gazidis preaching simple solution to football’s debt problem March 10, 2010 IT seems apt that Ivan Gazidis first fell in love with football at Portsmouth. His boyhood club’s grim descent into administration has laid bare the financial mismanagement prevalent even at the top level, where clubs borrow vast sums just to keep pace with their rivals. Now, as chief executive of Arsenal, he is among the [...]
Onions cries off as Broad faces late test March 10, 2010 ENGLAND seamer Stuart Broad appears to be winning his battle to be fit for tomorrow’s first Test with Bangladesh. The 23-year-old suffered a back injury during the one-day international series, forcing him to miss this week’s warm-up match with a Bangladesh A side. But the Nottinghamshire pace man bowled 10 overs during a net session [...]
Wenger boys have the momentum March 10, 2010 HE’S been questioned all season, but suddenly there seems to be method in Arsene Wenger’s madness. Despite suffering plenty of knocks along the way, Wenger has stayed loyal to his Arsenal players and you can imagine the grin on his face when Nicklas Bendtner slammed in his hat-trick goal to complete the five-goal demolition of [...]
Williams: We’ll spoil the O’Driscoll party March 10, 2010 STAND-IN Wales captain Martyn Williams has vowed to spoil Brian O’Driscoll’s home party at Croke Park on Saturday. Irish skipper O’Driscoll will make his 100th international appearance in the crunch Six Nations clash with the Welsh. But Williams, who himself wins his 95th cap ?– a new record for a Wales forward – claims to [...]
Binocular and Solwhit eye up Champion Hurdle hopes March 10, 2010 DOUBTFUL duo Binocular and Solwhit have both been left in the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle at the six-day stage after both impressed their trainers this week. Binocular had been expected to miss the Cheltenham Festival after a recent injury, while pre-race favourite Solwhit was on the verge of being withdrawn after scoping badly on Monday. [...]
Pakistan duo receive bans for life March 10, 2010 FORMER Pakistan captains Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf have been sensationally barred from playing for their country for life as part of a crackdown on player discipline. The experienced pair, arguably Pakistan’s top two performers, were at the forefront of a Pakistan Cricket Board enquiry into the recent tour of Australia where “infighting brought down [...]
Semi-final place is the minimum requirement, insists boss Capello March 10, 2010 ENGLAND coach Fabio Capello has targeted a semi-final place at this summer’s World Cup – at the very least. The Three Lions are among the favourites in South Africa but have failed to make it past the quarter-finals since the 1990 tournament. But Capello said: “I hope the semi-finals is a minimum. We have good [...]