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Follow us onNº 53 FRIDAY MARCH 14, 2014

RIVALDOFOOTBALL

LEGENDS

VAN BASTEN

POSTER INSIDE

TOMORROWFFoFolllllllowowow uu u usss s ononononon

FOOTBALL LEGENDS

509 games / 254 goals

RIVALDOPaulista (Brazil)April 19, 1972

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERCAREER1994-96

Palmeiras1996-97

Deportivo Coruña1997-02

Barcelona 2002-04

Milan 2004-07

Olympiakos2007-08

AEK Athens2008-10

Bunyodkor2011

Sao Paulo (loan)2012

Kabuscorp2013

Sao Caetano

Brazil National Team74 games / 34 goals

POSTER INSIDE

BAYERN CHIEF PUNISHED

ELIMINATION LEAVES CITY ONLY FIGHTING FOR DOMESTIC TITLE

Pellegrini’s side sent

crashing out of Europe

and the FA Cup once more

ONE

BARCELONA STAR LAUDED BY WORLD’S PRESS AFTER STUNNING SHOW

HOENESS FACES 3.5 YEARS IN JAIL FOR TAX FRAUD

F1 REVOLUTION STARTS

THE FIRST RACE TAKES PLACE ON SUNDAY IN AUSTRALIA

Man City must win the

Premier League to make

this a successful season

AIM

MESSI BACK TO MAGICAL BEST“We are the team we want to be and the one fans expect us to be” says Leo

After lifting the League

Cup, Manchester City

believed they could go

on to win the quadruple.

That’s what Manuel Pel-

legrini and Samir Nasri said after

the game. Although they were in

a tricky spot after the Champions

League first leg defeat against

Barcelona, the club seemed confi-

dent again. But they came crashing

down to earth the following week,

against Wigan in the FA Cup. Pel-

legrini’s team looked out of ideas,

bereft of inspiration, as they took

on their conquerors from the previ-

ous year’s final. At their home sta-

dium, City were shown up by the

Championship side.

On Wednesday night in Barce-

lona, they didn’t play too badly.

They had chances, through Nasri,

and an Edin Dzeko header which

was superbly tipped over by Victor

Valdés. But they didn’t do enough

and were dumped out of Europe

before the quarter-final stage yet

again. It means the only competi-

City must win the title rManchester City only have the Premier League left to fight for this season and the club’s owners will be demanding success

tion they have left to fight for is the

Premier League.

Samir Nasri believes City will

emerge a stronger team from

their Nou Camp defeat, which fin-

ished 2-1 on the night and 4-1 to

Barcelona on aggregate. French

midfielder Nasri said: “I think we

played a good game. I think we did

everything we could. We can have

regrets about the first leg - it is in

the first leg we lost it - but here we

did everything. I think this defeat

is going to be good for us in the

future. This is where you get experi-

ence and get much stronger as a

team and a group. Next year our

target is to be up there with the

best. We don’t have a choice. Now

our target is to win the league.”

But there’s only so far that en-

thusiasm and desire takes you.

Given the vast amounts of money

that has been poured into the club

- over €1.2billion - since the takeo-

ver in 2008 by the Abu Dhabi Unit-

ed Group, a return of one Premier

League and one FA Cup is simply

not good enough. Sheikh Mansour

is entitled to question whether he’s

getting value for money. City could

make it two Premier Leagues by

the end of the season, if City can

beat Chelsea, Arsenal and Liver-

pool to the title.

You would imagine that Pel-

legrini’s job is safe, even if City

don’t win - so long as they come

within inches of success. The Chil-

ean manager is liked by supporters

and players; he has united a squad

After being knocked out of the Champions League...

Rik Sharma

Analysis

SPORT QATARFRIDAY

March 14, 20142 Football

This is the most intriguingly balanced title

race in years. Liverpool are in the best form

but have some points to make up. Chelsea

are going strong but have European distrac-

tions. Arsenal and City are wobbling but

both have the ability to win it. The weeks

ahead will be thrilling.

Game on! Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal are in their way

In the 2013 FA Cup final, Wigan stunned

the world by beating Manchester City at

Wembley. Nobody believed it would happen

again, this time at the Etihad in the quarter-

finals, but it did. The Latics went two goals

up and although Samir Nasri struck, City

couldn’t force a replay.

Wigan give City déjà vu with another FA Cup knock-out

This was City’s best Champions League

campaign yet, but it still ended in disap-

pointment. Lionel Messi and Dani Alves

struck in both legs of the tie, with City’s only

goal coming through Vincent Kompany late

on at the Nou Camp. They still have a long

way to go to beat the best in Europe.

Barcelona showed too much class for City to match

LEAGUE CUP

Manchester City beat Sunderland at Wem-

bley to take home English football’s first

- and least prestigious - trophy of the sea-

son. On the way to the final they only had

to get past West Ham, Leicester City, New-

castle and Wigan, certainly not the most

formidable of opposition.

Triumph over Sunderland earned them some respite

Man City Status Check

FA CUP CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREMIER LEAGUE

Manchester City only have the Premier League to play for // AFP

race

which Roberto Mancini wore down.

Nasri is one player who has flour-

ished this season, after Pellegrini

unshackled him.

The club will need to reinforce

the centre of defence in the sum-

mer, which has been badly ex-

posed in the Champions League

ties against Barcelona. Martin

Demichelis was found out in the

first leg, sent off as he conceded a

penalty. Joleon Lescott was made

a mockery of by Lionel Messi on

Wednesday night. Matija Nastisic

has spent a long time injured and

is only 20-years-old. Only Vincent

Kompany fits the bill, and they will

be vying with Barcelona for the

best of the defensive talent when

the transfer window opens. They

will be regretting not buying a cen-

tre-back last summer, instead of

lavishing €26m.

Complaints about the officials

from Pablo Zabaleta, who was sent

off, did little to disguise the fact

that City are not operating at the

level they need to be. The strikers,

Sergio Agüero, Alvaro Negredo

and Edin Dzeko, who couldn’t stop

scoring earlier this season, now

have a combined 907-minute goal

drought between them. They will

need to break that sooner rather

than later, if they are to fight for the

one remaining title open to them

this season. They may be without

Agüero for a while, because he

was substituted at half time be-

cause of a hamstring injury. “It is

very early, so we cannot say how

long he is going to be out,” Rubén

Cousillas, Pellegrini’s assistant,

said. “Hopefully, it is nothing se-

rious, but he felt some pain. It is

more a precaution, but we are do-

ing some tests to assess it.” The

forward said: “I felt a twinge in the

leg early on after a challenge with

Messi. I carried on with it for the

rest of the half but at half-time we

decided not to risk it.”

City chief executive Ferran So-

riano, formerly of Barcelona, set

Pellegrini a target at the start of

the season, saying he wanted the

club to win five trophies in the next

five years. He said: “If we look at

the next five years, I would say I

want to win five trophies. That

may mean we win no trophies one

year and two in another, but on av-

erage I want one trophy or title a

year. If next year we don’t win, but

progress our football and get to

the semi-finals of the Champions

League, finish second in the Pre-

mier League and lose the FA Cup

final again, that will be fine.”

Having won the League Cup,

Pellegrini and City are on course

to hit Soriano’s target. But some

titles are worth more than others.

The manager will demand his side

gets back to winning ways against

Hull on Saturday, when focus turns

back to the Premier League.

Samir Nasri: “I think we did everything we could. We don’t have a choice,

now our target is to win the league. ”

Pellegrini has been

set a target of five

trophies to win in the

next five seasons

Winning the league

is essential to give the

club a return on the

€1.2bn spent already

3FootballSPORT QATARFRIDAYMarch 14, 2014

Pablo Zabaleta blasted

referee Stephane Lan-

noy for three ‘shock-

ing decisions’ made

during their Champi-

ons League last 16 second leg

tie with Barcelona. Zabaleta

claimed there was a foul in the

build up to Lionel Messi’s open-

ing goal, that City should have

been awarded a penalty, and that

he should not have been shown

the red card.

Zabaleta said: “It was very

clear - Piqué came from behind

and made the tackle on Edin Dze-

ko, and the referee was only two

metres away. He saw that very

clearly. It was also a foul against

Dzeko just before Barcelona’s

first goal.

He held the

b a l l a n d

turned, and

Piqué had

hold of his

shir t, and

the ref gave

a free-kick

to Barcelo-

na. Some-

times in the game you are nerv-

ous because you are trying to get

the result, and sometimes shock-

ing decisions by the ref make you

a bit angry. I don’t know why I

got a red card because I went to

him to talk in a good way. I was

a little bit angry to him because

he didn’t give the penalty but I

was always respectful to him. I

am very frustrated at the deci-

sion because it was a shocking

decision. I am disappointed but

also very proud of the team be-

cause I think we played a fantas-

tic game.”

What Zabaleta didn’t mention

was that Lannoy also missed

Joleon Lescott’s foul on Messi

in the area, which should have

been given as a penalty to Barce-

lona. Jordi Alba was also wrongly

adjudged to be offside

and when he crossed

for Neymar to score,

it was unfairly ruled

out.

Yaya Touré was

also on the warpath,

hitting out at Chelsea

manager Jose Mourin-

ho. The Ivorian spoke

to Marca about Mourinho’s propen-

sity to offer his opinion about other

teams and players in the press.

“I think he talks more than be-

fore, perhaps because the English

press likes it,” Touré said. “He is a

coach and he must give

respect a little bit. He is

always talking about eve-

ryone and that is not the

correct way. That is why

Barcelona always beat

Madrid when Mourinho

was here.”

NEVILLE KNOWS

Manchester United

legend Gary Neville has admitted

that arch-rivals City are better than

his former side, but does not think

they will win the Premier League

this season. “For about 20 years

of my life they [Man City]

were irrelevant,” he said.

“Then they became a

little bit annoying. Now

they are actually better.

It’s a bit of a worry. My

uncle is a City fan. We

all know City fans, we all

know United fans. And

I have to say, that gen-

Complaints: Zabaleta was left fuming after the game // AFP

City rage: Zabaleta hits out at ref and Touré blasts Mourinho

Zabaleta claimed the referee wronged City three times and Touré thinks Chelsea’s boss needs to talk less

Zabaleta:

“The ref

made me

angry with

his shocking

decisions”

erally it’s a huge positive to have

two clubs of that stature for Man-

chester. You can’t really think about

Manchester without thinking about

football and the importance of it.”

Asked who would win this year’s

Premier League, Neville

replied: “I said City cer-

tainly up to two months

ago but if you asked me

now I’d say Chelsea.”

Manchester United

are currently nine points

behind City, although

Manuel Pel legrini ’s

team have two games in

hand on them. Neville

has been working with Ryan Giggs

since he retired from the game,

opening a football cafe and he’s

currently constructing Hotel Foot-

ball, next to Old Trafford. “I’ve not

played football since Paul Scholes’

testimonial and it was such an em-

barrassing experience,” he said. “It

was painful. And I thought ‘I’m not

playing again’. I don’t play football.

I’ve no interest in it at all. If you

said to me tomorrow would you

kick about, I wouldn’t want it. I’d

rather be in a suit, either watching

the game or having meetings.”

Yaya Touré:

“Mourinho is

talking about

everyone and

that is not

correct”

Gary Neville:

“Two months

ago I thought

City, but

now I’d say

Chelsea”

Manchester City may have cre-

ated a series of clear goalscor-

ing chances at the Camp Nou,

but Messi was never concerned

that the Prermier League side

were going to stage an upset.

It was the Argentinian He told

Canal Plus: “We knew that we

only had to score one goal to

finish off the tie and calm our

nerves down a bit, because we

knew what City were capable of

and the quality they possess.

But even before we scored, the

tie was never in danger. We

were always in control and we

created chances throughout the

game which we weren’t able to

convert but we’ve qualified for

the next round, which is what

we were looking to do.”

Messi acknowledged that the

team had disappointed fans

with the recent defeats at Real

Sociedad and Valladolid, but

believes they produced the

right response against City. “Of

course we had two big slip ups

in the league, and above all

we played very badly in those

two games. But today we were

the same old Barça again, the

team we want to be and what

the fans expect us to be, and

we did that while playing against

a really good team.” However,

the striker did not appear too

bothered by what the media

had been saying about Barce-

lona after those defeats. “We

were more critical of ourselves

than anyone else, because we

didn’t play as well as we should

have done and we missed an

important chance to win and

keep fighting at the top of the

league,” he said. “We always

try and distance ourselves from

criticism. We have to listen to

each other and try and turn

things around. ourselves.”

Today we were the same old Barça again, the team we want to be and the team the fans expect us to be

Messi believes Barça were back to their best against City

Just in case it was needed, Li-

onel Messi reminded the world

once again who he was, and just

exactly how good he is. It was the

Argentine’s 66th minute goal that

saw off Manchester City once and

for all and banished any fears Barça

might have had of being the victim

of a late comeback from the Pre-

mier League side, but even before

he spun the ball past Joe Hart with

the outside of his mythical left foot

to open the scoring, he had won

over the crowd with a scintillating

performance. Aside from earning

and scoring the penalty which had

put Barça on their way to victory at

the Etihad stadium — which also

lead to Martin Demichelis being

sent off — Messi had not exactly

conquered Manchester in the first

leg. But on Wednesday, on his trust-

ed home turf, the four-time Ballon

d’Or winner honed in on his victims,

toyed with his prey and then moved

in for the kill. City felt the fear the

moment they set eyes on their pred-

ator, with the woefully mismatched

Joleon Lescott grabbing onto Messi

in the fourth minute in an attempt

The forward had the world’s press eating out of his hands after blitzing City and sending Barça into the quarters

Messi show silences d

Messi struck

fear into the

Manchester

City defence

every time

he picked

up the ball

BARCELONA Argentine produced dominant performance just when questions were being asked

Richard Martin

Report

SPORT QATARFRIDAY


doubters

to halt a bursting run through the

middle. Lescott simply could not

cope with the forward during the

90 minutes, and was fortunate

not to concede a penalty when he

brought him down in the area a few

moments later. He then skipped

past Yaya Toure, Lescott and Ale-

ksandr Kolarov but could not pre-

vent the ball going out of play. While

he was on a mission to add to his

goal tally, Messi was also keen to

tee up his team-mates delivering an

acute pass for Xavi, who could only

shoot at Hart, and then releasing

Neymar, whose shot was headed

off the line by Fernandinho.

He was just as rampant in the

second half, striking the far post af-

ter humiliating Lescott again. The

Barça fans responded by chanting

their hero’s name, and the next

time Messi went for goal, he found

it. Inevitably it was Lescott who

gifted him the chance, failing to

clear a through ball from Cesc Fà-

bregas, and Messi took one touch

to bring the ball under control with

his left foot, before flicking the out-

side of his boot to send the ball

into the opposite corner. This time

the Camp Nou was able to give

Messi a proper ovation, and so too

did the press tapping away at their

keyboards high above the pitch.

The Daily Telegraph spoke of the

“guile and wizardry of Messi, who

reaffirmed his pre-eminence in the

starkest terms”, while The Guardi-

an noted: “With each touch he had,

each run he made, space opened.”

It was easy to forget the talk in the

Spanish media before the game

about Messi’s star fading, follow-

ing Barcelona’s 1-0 defeat at Val-

ladolid the previous weekend. In

the press conference before the

City game, Javier Mascherano and

Barça coach Gerardo Martino had

to take questions about whether

Messi still had the hunger and the

talent that lead him to winning the

Ballon d’Or four times in a row.

Some suggested he was burned

out, still not fully recovered from

suffering three hamstring injuries

in the space of eight months.The

debate was quickly forgotten after

his exhibition at the Camp Nou.

As The Independent put it: “Messi

made a whole heap of nonsense

last night out of all the talk of his

diminishing influence.” Now the

press are eating out of his hand.

The Daily Mirror wrote: “Messi

shone. He shone brightly. He domi-

nated the game. And though City

gave everything, he taught them a

harsh lesson.” Spanish newspaper

AS joined in: “Messi was stupen-

dous and once again showed he’s

still the best in the world. He is like

the 7th Cavalry; he always arrives

just in time.”

Joleon Lescott was woefully mismatched against Messi and had a torrid time trying to keep up with him

looked to be another

message to the Barça

faithful, but Alves in-

sisted he had been

misunderstood, and

thought the fans had

suppor ted the team

throughout the game.

He said: “All I wanted

was for the fans to get

behind us. I’m a transpar-

ent guy and people need

to know that if the fans

and the team are united

we will be much harder to

beat. Today I have nothing

to complain about.” He

added: “We’ll always de-

fend this club with dignity

and honour.”

“If the fans

and team are united we’ll be much harder to beat”

Alves calls on Barça faithful to keep the volume up

Dani Alves has never

been a man of subtle-

ties and celebrated

his late goal against

City with an exuber-

ant dance by the corner flag,

followed by a series of facial

expressions towards the home

fans. The full-back has been cri-

ticial of the club’s supporters in

recent weeks, remarking after

the January defeat to Valencia

at the Camp Nou: “At times it felt

like we were playing away from

home”. He was also outspoken

after the defeat at Valladolid,

declaring: “Anyone who doesn’t

believe in this team should get

off the ship”. His fiery celebra-

tion after scoring against City

The Brazilian ran towards supporters after scoring but insists he was not pointing the finger at anyone

Alves ran towards the home fans after scoring the final goal of the game// AFP

Messi ran City ragged from minute

one, creating numerous chances

for himself and his team-mates

key points

His 66th minute goal finished off

any hope City had of launching

a late comeback in the tie

He overtook Raúl as the player with

the most Champions League goals

for a single team (67 and counting)

1

2

3

Busquets tells people to be realisticIf Barcelona want to find an

explanation for why they have

been hounded by the press for

the crime of losing a couple of

matches, they could listen to a

song by the popular Manchester

band James and in particular the

line “If I hadn’t seen such riches,

I could live with being poor.”

It was a theme Sergio Busquets

touched on in an interview with

Barça TV after the City game. The

midfielder pointed out that the

team’s fans have been spoiled

in recent years, feasting on one

jawdropping victory after another,

a title win followed by a European

triumph, that they do not know how

to react when the team falls short

from time to time. “Maybe people

are just too used to us winning

everything,” said Busquets. “We’d

all love to win every game 5-0 and

not have to suffer, but that’s just

impossible.” The midfielder called

for a sense of perspective, remind-

ing fans that despite losing three

games in 2014, Barça still have

everything to play for. “We are four

points behind the league leaders

and I don’t think that means it’s the

end of an era,” he said. Next up for

Barça is a home game with Osasu-

na, followed by one of their biggest

league games of the season, the

Clásico with

Real Madrid

at the Berna-

b é u . B u s -

quets added:

“We will keep

fighting for all

the titles until

the end of the

season.”

“Maybe

people have got too used to us winning everything”

Bartra agrees new contract until 2017Barcelona have renewed their

longstanding commitment to

homegrown players by offering

academy graduate Marc Bar-

tra a new contract.

The 23-year-old has

agreed a fresh deal

with the club that

will keep him tied to

Barcelona until June

2017. The contract

is a reward for the pa-

tience the youngster

has shown in spite

of limited first team opportuni-

ties, and the €25million buy-out

clause that has been inserted into

the contract to warn off interested

clubs also reflects how

much Barecelona value

him. Although Bartra is

still behind Gerard Piqué

and Javier Mascherano

in the pecking order, in

defence, he can expect

more first team opportu-

nities next season, with

veteran Carles Puyol

announcing he will leave the club

in the summer. Bartra joined Bar-

celona’s world famous academy

La Masia in 2002 when he was

just 11 years old, Pep Guardiola

handing him his first team debut

eight years later in a league game

against Atlético Madrid. Bartra

then returned to the club’s B team

but was made a fully fledged mem-

ber of the first team squad at the

start of the 2012-13 season and

has grown in stature this season,

starting 10 games in La Liga.

The contract

contains a €25m buy-out clause to warn off other clubs


Getafe-Granada Friday 14, 23:00h.

Levante-Celta Vigo Saturday 15, 18:00h.

Rayo Vallecano-Almería Saturday 15, 20:00h.

Málaga-Real Madrid Saturday 15, 22:00h.

Atlético Madrid-Espanyol Sunday 16, 00:00h.

Elche-Real Betis Sunday 16, 14:00h.

Barcelona-Osasuna Sunday 16, 19:00h.

Sevilla-Valladolid Sunday 16, 21:00h.

Real Sociedad-Valencia Sunday 16, 23.00h.

Villarreal-Athletic Bilbao Tuesday. 18, 00:00h.

Fixtures

La Liga

Team PLD W D L GF GA Pts

Real Madrid 27 21 4 2 76 26 67Atlético 27 20 4 3 63 21 64Barcelona 27 20 3 4 74 22 63Athletic 26 15 5 6 49 30 50Villarreal 27 13 5 9 47 33 44Real Sociedad 26 12 7 7 46 36 43Sevilla 27 11 8 8 47 42 41Espanyol 27 10 6 11 32 33 36Levante 27 9 9 9 26 34 36Valencia 26 10 5 11 38 37 35Celta Vigo 27 8 6 13 32 39 30Granada 27 9 3 15 24 36 30Osasuna 26 8 5 13 24 39 29Elche 27 7 8 12 24 40 29Getafe 27 7 6 14 23 42 27Malaga 26 6 8 12 24 35 26Valladolid 27 5 11 11 29 44 26Almeria 27 7 5 15 26 49 26Rayo 26 7 2 17 26 59 23Real Betis 27 4 6 17 23 56 18

Champions League Europa League Relegation

Table

We fear nobody, says Atlético Madrid’s KokeThe Atlético Madrid midfielder

Koke stated that in ‘no way’

would his side ‘fear’ any team

they find themselves drawn

against in the next round of

the Champions League after

Atleti hammered Milan to

progress to the quarter-finals.

“It’s an exciting game and

in no way will we have any

fear because we’ve already

beaten some great teams”,

Koke said. He also said that

it’s important for Atlético to

contribute more players to the

Spanish national team, such

as Diego Costa, who made

his debut recently, Juanfran,

and Mario Suárez.

Real Madrid

w inger Ga-

reth Bale has paid tribute to the

high technical standard of La Liga

after spending six months with the

Spanish giants. Bale joined Real

for a reported fee of €91million

from Tottenham Hotspur in a pro-

tracted transfer deal in September

after being crowned the Premier

League’s best player by football

writers and his fellow players, af-

ter a series of staggering perform-

ances last season.

Bale says he is enjoying the

changes to a less physically de-

manding style of play and has been

impressed by the determination of

even the league’s lesser sides to

try and play a passing game. “The

big difference is the tactical play

and the way all teams play a lot of

good football”, he said on Thurs-

day.

“That is the biggest thing about

Spain, it is all passing and move-

ment. It has been a new experi-

ence which I am obviously learning

from and enjoying. All the teams,

no matter if they are at the top or

the bottom, try to play football. It is

exciting , it is a great league and it

is great to be playing here.”

A succession of injuries dis-

rupted Bale’s start to the season,

but his return to form and full fit-

ness has helped Real embark on a

29 game unbeaten run which now

stretches back to October. Barcelo-

na’s shock 1-0 defeat at Valladolid

at the weekend allowed Real to

open up a four-point gap on their

bitter rivals at the top of the table.

But Bale is taking nothing for

granted as he and his side target

trophies in his first season in Ma-

drid. “Obviously we are in a very

good position at the moment, but

there’s still 11 games left to go,”

the Welshman said. “We need to

take every game as it comes and

concentrate on our own perform-

ances. Hopefully we can keep play-

ing well and achieve our goals.”

Real will face Barcelona twice

next month in La Liga and the Copa

del Rey final and they could even

meet four times in 25 days if they

Bale loving life in La Liga

Bale’s enjoyed his time in Spain and the Real Madrid galáctico hopes to keep on improving

are drawn together in the quarter-

finals of the Champions League.

Barça sealed their passage to the

quarters on Wednesday with a 4-1

aggregate victory over Manchester

City

Real, for their part, are all but

in the last eight already given that

they lead Schalke 6-1 from the first

leg of their encounter in Germany

but Bale is certain that they will

face a tougher test in the next

round. “The Champions League is

full of great teams.” he asserted.

“Every team left in the competition

can potentially win it.”

“For me, everybody left in the

competition can consider them-

selves a favourite and whoever we

draw next it is going to be a diffi-

Gareth Bale has overcome his initial injury problems to find his best form at Real Madrid but thinks he can still improve

ON LA LIGA

In Spain it’s all about passing and movement. All the teams try to play a passing game

ON THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

It’s full of great teams, every team left in the competition can win it. It’s wide open

cult game. The tournament is really

wide open and it just depends on

who takes their chances.”

Bale’s enjoyed a productive first

season in Madrid, chipping in with

14 goals and 11 assists in just 25

performances in La Liga and the

Champions League to date, but

he reckons there is more to come

having overcome the initial difficul-

ties of the change of lifestyle when

moving countries.

“Naturally it’s taken me a bit of

time to get used, but I am really

enjoying the football and especially

the weather”, he laughed. “I’ve en-

joyed my six months in Spain so

far. It took me a bit of time to get

up to speed but I think my perform-

ances have come on as well.”

Real Madrid full-back Álvaro

Arbeloa has suffered a knee

injury that places his World Cup

hopes in jeopardy. The injury is

a fracture to his right kneecap

and the Spain international

will have to spend at least two

months on the sidelines. At first

the injury wasn’t feared to be

serious, although it was certain

that he was going to miss this

weekend’s clash with Levante

as well as the upcoming clásico

against Barcelona on March 23.

Now it’s feared that the injury

could be a lot more serious

and there are questions as to

whether he’ll be ready when

Vicente del Bosque names his

World Cup squad on May 25. He

was not part of the latest squad

which faced Italy in a friendly.

Arbeloa suffers knee injury and his World Cup place is now in jeopardy

MADRID STAR’S INJURY BLOW

REAL MADRID Bale happy in Spanish capital and reckons this year’s Champions League is wide open ahead of quarters

Joseph Sexton

News

SPORT QATARFRIDAY


Booming Bundesliga most attended leagueThe Bundesliga remains the

most attended league in the

world, the figures for the first

half of the season tell us, and

the trend remains upward.

Each top division game was

attended by an average of

43,125, an increase of 1.81

percent on last season,

where the average figure

was 41,377. In total, the

league has drawn some 6.4

million fans between August

and December which was

also an increase of 1.14

percent. There was also an

increase in attdences in the

German second division, the

Bundesliga 2 in that time.

Augsburg-Schalke 04 Friday 14, 22:30h.

Borussia Dortmund-Borussia M’Gladbach Saturday 15, 17:30h.

Braunschweig-Wolfsburg

Saturday 15, 17:30h.

Hertha Berlin-Hanover 96 Saturday 15, 17:30h.

Hoffenheim-Mainz 05 Saturday 15, 17:30h.

Werder Bremen- Vfb Stuttgart Saturday 15, 17:30h.

Bayern Munich-Bayer LeverkusenSaturday 15, 20:30h.

Hamburg-Nurnberg Sunday 16, 17:30h.

Eintracht Frankfurt-Freiburg Sunday 16, 19:30h.

Fixtures

Bundesliga

Team P W D L GF GA Pts

Bayern Munich 24 21 2 0 72 11 68 B. Dortmund 24 15 3 6 55 27 48 B. Leverkusen 24 14 2 8 40 27 44 Schalke 04 24 13 5 6 46 35 44 Wolfsburg 24 12 3 9 41 38 39 Mainz 05 24 11 5 8 33 36 38 B. M’Gladbach 24 11 4 8 41 35 37 Hertha 24 10 6 8 35 28 36 Augsburg 24 10 5 8 34 27 35 Hoffenheim 24 7 8 9 52 52 29 Hannover 24 7 7 10 28 46 28 Eintracht 24 7 5 12 31 43 26 Werder Bremen 24 6 8 10 27 40 26 Nuremberg 24 4 11 9 27 42 23 Stuttgart 24 5 5 14 38 51 20 Hamburg 24 5 5 14 39 53 20 Freiburg 24 4 7 12 22 45 19 E. Braunschweig 24 4 5 15 19 44 17

Champions League Europa League Promoción Relegation

Table

A German court on

Thursday sentenced

the president of Bay-

en Munich, Uli Hoe-

ness, to three and a

half years in prison on tax evasion

charges.

“In the name of the people, Mr

Ulrich Hoeness is sentenced for

seven serious counts of tax eva-

sion to a prison term of three years

and six months”, judge Rupert

Heindel told the Munich court.

This verdict, with one year for

each count of tax cheating, likely

spells the end of the career of the

former football player, whose trial

has captivated the football-mad

country. Hoeness had admitted

to dodging some €27.2 million

in taxes by hiding his wealth in

Swiss accounts while “gambling”

on stocks and currencies over a

period of years, the court heard.

He was allowed to walk out of

the court for now because he has

one week to lodge an appeal. His

defence team stated that he will do

so. The butcher’s son rose to fame

as the club’s powerful football boss

only to end his career with an own

goal. When he entered the dock on

Monday he confessed to a large

scale tax fraud of €18.5 million,

almost five times more than the

prosecutors believed. His vow of

full disclosure was contradicted

the next day by a tax officer who

testified that Hoeness had evaded

€27.2 million.

Hoeness first turned himself in

and paid €10 million in back taxes

on January 17 last year, with the

tax investigators already pursuing

his case. In March the police raided

his villa and he was arrested briefly

before being released on bail of

five millions euros, facts which

were only reported in the media

weeks later.

Hoeness said he had been hop-

Bayern chief guilty of tax evasionIn a case which has grabbed the public’s attention Uli Hoeness has been found guilty and sentenced to prison following trial

ing to benefit from a tax deal Ger-

many was negotiating with Switzer-

land which would have guaranteed

immunity to tax cheats who came

clean. But the amnesty deal was

scuppered by Germany’s centre-left

opposition of the time, who argued

that wealthy criminals should not

be treated so leniently.

In a comment that’s since come

back to bite Hoeness he told the

newspaper Bild in 2005 that “I

know it’s stupid but I pay all my

taxes.” Unbeknownst to the pub-

lic, Hoeness was obsessively gam-

bling millions of euros on stocks

and currencies through the funds

in his Swiss bank accounts.

Hoeness twice narrowly evaded

death, first from a serious car ac-

cident in 1975 and then a plane

crash in 1982 which killed three

friends. A dazed and hurt Hoeness

was found wandering through the

woods telling his rescuer “I am

cold, I am freezing”.

Alongside Franz Beckenbauer

and Gerd Mueller, Hoeness was

a star of the team that won three

European Cups in the 1970s.

Fall from grace: Bayern’s Uli Hoeness could be set for spell in prison // AFP

HOENESS Club stands by disgraced president

Butcher's son

Hoeness found guilty

of seven counts of tax

evasion in Munich

Hoeness had hoped

to avoid jail under

proposed amnesty

but deal struck down

Leverkusen are up next for Bayern

Runaway Bundesliga lead-

ers Bayern Munich host Bayer

Leverkusen on Saturday while sec-

ond placed Borussia Dortmund,

who have 20 less points, play

Borussia Moenchengladbach at

home. The weekend programstarts

today with a game between the sur-

prise package of the season Augs-

burg and Schalke ahead of their

Champions League trip to Madrid.

The clash between Bayern and

Leverkusen pits off two teams in

completely different situations.

So far this calendar year Bay-

ern haven’t tasted defeat, while

Leverkusen appear to have forgot-

ten how to win. At least in their last

two games Leverkusen have shown

some signs of life. Last Saturday

Leverkusen face daunting Bayern taskthey picked up their first point since

the winter break against Hanover

and on Wednesay salvaged some

dignity in bowing out of the Champi-

ons League with a 2-1 defeat away

to Paris Saint-Germain after los-

ing the first leg 4-0 at home. “If we

go with the same attitude there,

we can take something out of the

game’, said manager Sami Hyypia.

When the sides met in earlier in the

season the result was a 1-1 draw,

Leverkusen becoming one of only

two teams to draw with Bayern.

BUNDESLIGA Leverkusen showing signs of life ahead of big Bayern test

Leverkusen one

of just two teams

to take points off

Bayern domestically

Joseph Sexton

News


FOOTBALL

LEGENDS

509 g

am

es /

254 g

oals

RIV

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zil)

April 1

9, 1

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1994-9

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1997-0

2

Barc

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2002-0

4

Mila

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2004-0

7

Oly

mpia

kos

2007-0

8

AEK

Ath

ens

2008-1

0

Bunyo

dko

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Sao P

aulo

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2012

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74 g

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oals

Cassano could still make the World CupItaly boss Cesare Prandelli

has said he is open to picking

Parma star Antonio Cassano

for his World Cup squad. “The

door has never been closed

for Antonio [Cassano] and to

anyone,” The 31-year-old has

not featured in Prandelli’s

plans with the national team

since the 2012 European

Championships, but is still

in with a chance of making

the summer tournament. He

is a very talented player who

makes the team play well,

but cannot do it all alone, he

would need to be placed in the

context of a perfect team.

Serie A


Juventus 25 21 3 1 60 19 66 Roma 24 17 6 1 49 11 57 Nápoles 25 15 6 4 50 28 51 Fiorentina 25 13 6 6 45 28 45 Inter 25 10 10 5 43 29 40 Verona 25 12 3 10 43 42 39 Parma 24 9 10 5 38 29 37 Torino 25 9 9 7 39 32 36 Milan 25 9 8 8 39 35 35 Lazio 25 9 8 8 33 34 35 Genoa 25 8 8 9 28 32 32 Udinese 25 8 4 13 29 36 28 Sampdoria 25 7 7 11 27 37 28 Atalanta 25 8 4 13 25 37 28 Cagliari 25 5 10 10 23 35 25 Chievo 25 5 6 14 19 35 21 Bolonia 25 4 9 12 22 41 21 Livorno 25 5 5 15 26 45 20 Catania 25 4 7 14 19 43 19

Sassuolo 25 4 5 16 25 54 17


Table

Verona-Inter Saturday, 1945

Atalanta-SampdoriaSunday, 1130

Cagliari-LazioSunday, 1400

Milan-ParmaSunday, 1400

Livorno-Bologna Sunday, 1400

Sassuolo-Catania Sunday, 1400

Fiorentina-Chievo Sunday, 1945

Genoa-Juventus Sunday, 1945

Torino-Napoli Monday, 1800

Roma-Udinese Monday, 2000

Fixtures

Serie A

SPORT QATARFRIDAY


A C M i l a n

striker Mario

Balotelli has

come in for

severe crit i -

cism from the Italian media follow-

ing his series of insipid displays in

the Champions League and Serie

A this season.

Milan exited the Champions

League at the hands of Atletico

Madrid 5-1 on aggregate, with the

Italian outfit being swept aside

in the second leg held in Madrid.

No player has taken more nega-

Balotelli critics come out Under pressure: Balotelli has received considerable criticism in the wake of Milan’s defeat to Atleti

tive reaction than Balotelli for the

failure.

Newspapers singled out the

striker, with Gazzetta dello Sport

claiming the Italy international

failed to make any impact over

both legs. “Balotelli remains

switched off,” read one headline.

Examining his performances they

said fans have lost patience with

the sub-par displays and antics,

while also claiming the dressing

room was divided over what he

brings to the club.

Meanwhile, the equally influen-

tial Corriere dello Sport referred

to Balotelli as a ‘disaster’. On the

front page they showed a picture of

the 22-year-old and next to it a cap-

tion saying the Italian national can-

not expect to rely upon someone

like this. They went on to say that

Balotelli is untrustworthy too, and

that this isn’t a quality you want

in the man leading your line at a

World Cup.

Questions continue to be asked

about Balotelli’s true level, and if

he can produce at the very top.

With only eight goals in 31 appear-

ances in the Champions League it

is understandable why some are

questioning the player who many

thought would become one of the

world’s best. In Serie A he’s fared

slightly better getting 10 goals in

18 appearances. Goals are only

half the story for many though, and

seeing a more desirable attitude

would be as appreciated.

Milan coach Clarence Seedorf

is seen as someone who can get

the best out of Balotelli, and can

offer strong guidance to a player

that is still working his way up the

football ladder. Still, there needs

to be more from Balotelli and he

can’t expect everyone to do every-

thing for him.

Seedorf has recently backed

the striker, insisting he’ll always

be fighting his corner, “I only think

positive things towards him. What

position do I like him best in? I like

Balotelli, full stop. He can play on

the right or the left.”

There have even been sugges-

tions in recent days that Balotelli

could head back to England, with

Arsenal. It’s difficult to see how

such a move could benefit him; he

would be swapping the unforgiv-

ing and cutting Italian press for the

English version. The most sensi-

ble thing Balotelli can do right now

however is focus on football with

his current team Milan, and head

into the World Cup this summer on

the back of a run of form.

The controversial Milan and Italy striker has been subjected to most criticism yet in his short career

Corriere dello Sport

call Balotelli a disaster

after Champions

League display

Seedorf speaks out

in defence of Balotelli

and insists he only

thinks positive things

NAPOLI AIMING TO KEEP SPANIARD

Reina happy with life in NapoliNapoli director Riccardo Bigon has hinted Pepe Reina could stay at

the Italian club after this season, when his loan expires. “We are in

a very clear situation. Pepe told us he appreciates this city, the team

and the fans. It means when the time comes to make decisions,

we’ll do so safe in the knowledge he likes being here.” Reina himself

suggested this past week that staying in Naples is an option that

attracts him, despite links persisting with Barcelona.

MILAN DUO TARGET MIDFIELDER

Milan rivals eye Napoli’s InlerCity rivals Milan and Inter are both interested in securing the signa-

ture of Napoli midfielder Gökhan Inler this summer. The 29-year-old

has performed well this season and both Milan based clubs could

look to bolster their squads. Inler’s deal expires in 2016 with Napoli,

and right now the club aren’t entirely against the sale of the player.

The Swiss International has made 24 appearances this season and

in the process scored two goals.

David Cartlidge

Report

Ligue1


PSG 28 20 7 1 67 18 67 Mónaco 28 17 8 3 46 22 59 Lille 28 15 7 6 33 18 52 Saint-Etienne 28 14 6 8 38 24 48 Olymp. Marsella 28 12 7 9 38 30 43 Olympique Lyon 27 11 9 7 40 31 42 Reims 28 11 9 8 37 36 42 Girondins 27 11 7 9 34 31 40 Toulouse 28 10 9 9 34 38 39 Bastia 28 10 7 11 31 41 37 Lorient 28 10 6 12 36 38 36 Niza 28 10 4 14 24 33 34 Montpellier 28 6 15 7 33 33 33 Guingamp 28 8 8 12 26 29 32 Nantes 28 9 5 14 25 32 32 Rennes 28 7 10 11 32 34 31 Évian TG 28 7 9 12 28 43 30 Valenciennes 28 6 7 15 29 47 25 Sochaux 28 5 7 16 23 50 22 Ajaccio 28 2 9 17 24 51 15


Table

Montpellier clear out set to include CabellaMontpellier Hérault SC

President Louis Nicollin

has said that AC Milan-

owned striker M’Baye

Niang will not have his

loan extended beyond the

current season, after proving

a dissapointment. Also

leaving the club could be

Rémy Cabella, who is highly

rated all across Europe,

with Newcastle remaining

interested. “When I give my

word to someone, I respect

it. Cabella was promised that

if it was an ambitious club

who came in for him then we

would let him go.”

Stade Reims-Olympique Marseille Friday, 2030

Lille-Nantes Saturday, 1630

Ajaccio-Guingamp Saturday, 2000

Evian-Valenciennes Saturday, 2000

Nice-Bastia

Saturday, 2000

Stade Rennais-ToulouseSaturday, 2000

Sochaux-LorientSaturday, 2000

Montpellier-BordeauxSunday, 1400

Lyon-MonacoSunday, 1700

PSG-Saint Etienne Saturday, 2100

Upcoming fixtures

L a u r e n t B l a n c

was not pleased,

despite his side’s

win against Bayer

L e v e r k u s e n i n

the Champions League last 16

on Wednesday night and wants

them to improve. He warned Paris

Saint-Germain players that there

will be no easy opposition in the

next round. They beat the German

side 2-1 at the Parc des Princes

and won the tie 6-1 on aggregate

overall.

Marquinhos and Ezequiel Lavez-

zi helped them come from behind

after Sidney Sam had opened the

scoring. It means they have at least

matched their performance in the

competition last season, where

they were knocked out on away

goals by Barcelona in the quarter-

finals. Now Blanc wants his men

to step up to the mark and push

on further.

“It’s not a bonus” to be in the

quarter-finals,” said Blanc. “We

need to prepare well, be very pro-

fessional, but I’m not worried about

that. I think the players will respond

to the challenge. We have an end

to the season that could become

very exciting. First of all we are

happy, satisfied, but we have won

nothing. At the end of the season

what counts is trophies.” He con-

tinued: “We prepared well for this

match but were mediocre at the

start. But paradoxically the Bayer

goal woke us up a bit too. PSG

were clearly not brilliant tonight. I

expected more, but the essential

thing is that we are through.”

PSG are eight points clear of

Monaco at the top of Ligue 1 and

are through to the French League

Cup final, where they will face Lyon.

Although they are on course to win

the domestic double, winning the

Champions League as well would

be a giant feat. “I think first of all

the objective is to go as far as pos-

sible. Ok, we have done as well as

last year, but you want to win every

tie,” said Blanc.

“There are teams who have a le-

gitimacy in the Champions League

in terms of experience that we

don’t have, but I think the consid-

eration that our opponents have for

us has increased. They know we

are a club who can go far. We will

wait for the draw. Hopefully we can

get a bit of luck in the draw, but the

ideal opponent does not exist.”

Tenacious defensive midfield-

er Blaise Matuidi was rested by

Blanc, because he was at risk of

picking up a booking which would

rule him out of the next round. Sal-

vatore Sirigu had to save a Simon

Rolfes penalty with the scores at 1-

1 and Blanc showed his displeas-

ure after the game. He was, how-

ever, interested in club president

Nasser Al-Khelaifi commenting on

French television after the match

that he would be offered a new con-

tract. Blanc signed a two-year deal

at the club last summer.

“I expected more [from the play-

ers]. The attitude was not great but

the level in the Champions League

is a lot higher than the French

championship. I am still very hap-

py,” said Blanc. “I didn’t expect

that question,” he added about his

contractual situation. “I hope the

president’s comments will be veri-

fied in the coming weeks.”

Blanc: Danger lies ahead

Tricky: Laurent Blanc warned his team that they will not have it easy in the quarter-finals

Paris Saint-Germain boss is aware that his side won’t face any easy opponents in the Champions League

Paris Saint-Germain assistant

Claude Makélélé has backed

the club in their quest for suc-

cess, and says their emergence

sparks memories of the time

he left Real Madrid for Chel-

sea in 2003. “I came [to PSG]

because I was offered a great

project. The club was then in

trouble, but it already had very

high goals, but not the neces-

sary means to fulfill them.

Gradually, the club began to get

results and to dream. QSI [Qatar

Sports Investment] then arrived

and gave it a new dimension.”

PSG are currently sitting com-

fortably at the top of Ligue 1,

while they had no problems in

removing Bayer Leverkusen in

the Champions League with a

commanding aggregate win.

Makélélé backing PSG project for success after memories come back

“QSI GAVE IT A NEW DIMENSION”

Rik Sharma

News

Blanc was pleased

to progress but

not delighted with

PSG's performance

French coach

surprised by

president’s comments

about a new contract


Former-Brazil star Romário

launched a scathing criti-

cism of FIFA president

Joseph Blatter and Sec-

retary-general Jérôme

Valcke, labelling the pair thieves.

Romario, who played for Barce-

Romario calls FIFA duo Blatter and Valcke thieves in latest outburstFormer-Brazil striker once again opens up with criticism of FIFA and the preparation by his home nation for the World Cup this summer

lona among other clubs in a glitter-

ing career, has been an outspoken

presence in the build-up to the

World Cup in Brazil, and has hit out

in his fiercest manner yet.

On the subject of Valcke ,

Romário said, “He just said that

the World Cup in Brazil can be

one of the worst ever, he comes

here, gives orders, says what he

wants, and everyone just claps

their hands.”

Romario has been an outspoken presence for a while when it comes to all matters FIFA

Romário’s lat-

e s t a t t a c k o n

F I FA c omes i n

response to com-

ments made by

Valcke, declaring

the former striker

as ‘’the worst person in the world,’’

and “anti-FIFA, anti-Jerome Valcke,

anti-everything.”

Speaking in an interview with

ESPN Brazil, Romário, who won

FIFA’s World Player of the Year in

1994, went on to say about Val-

cke: “that guy is one of the biggest

blackmailers in the world of sport,

he had been sacked, then he black-

mailed the corrupt FIFA president

who is a son of a b.....”

The former striker, who is cur-

rently a federal deputy in Brazil’s

senate, also caused controversy

in the past when it came to the

2018 World Cup. The tournament

is scheduled to take place in Rus-

sia, and according to Romário the

awarding of it was sold by FIFA to

Russia and taken away from Eng-

land.

“Blatter and Valcke are two

thieves at FIFA who are well-known

among Brazilians. There are many

others in both FIFA and Brazil’s FA,

who are going to become billion-

aires at our expense and nothing

is being done. Also our government

and president are also becoming

richer.”

The stadia has taken a heavy

bout of criticism from all corners

in the build-up too, and Romário

has also questioned the cost of the

much maligned Arena da Baixada

stadium in Curitaba. He went on

to say, “We have spent an absurd

amount of money with the World

Cup already, and from now on it will

become worse.”

“Many of these works, such as

the Atlético Paranaense stadium,

are now in an emergency stage, the

bidding contests won’t be in the

usual bureaucratic system, in or-

der to ensure the

money is avail-

able, so some-

thing that would

cost 20 will now

costs 60.”

When it comes

to Brazil’s chances on the pitch

though, he said: “We have to hope

Brazil will win the title on the pitch

as that would be wonderful for

Brazilian football, we have already

lost outside it and that can’t be

changed.”

The World Cup is set to start in

June, with hosts Brazil taking on

Croatia in the curtain raiser.

Romario was FIFA World Player of the Year in 1994, the same year

Brazil also won the World Cup

ROMARIO

Blatter and Valcke are two thieves at FIFA who are well known among Brazilians

VALKE

Romario is the worst person in the world. He is anti-FIFA and also anti-everything

Around 150 people gathered

Wednesday in Rio to protest

against Brazil hosting the World

Cup, with legendary star Pelé

blasted as a “traitor” for back-

ing the event which takes place

this summer. Pelé is an honor-

ary ambassador for the tourna-

ment, which kicks off on June

12, but his backing has caused

anger amongst many who feel

the vast sums of money being

spent should be spent else-

where on things such as public

services. “There will be no cup,

no election,” was one of the

chants coming from demonstra-

tors, while a banner being car-

ried read “Pelé, traitor

of the century.” More

demonstrations are

planned as Brazil con-

tinues to build-up to

the tournament which

gets underway in Rio.

Meanwhile, not every-

body is reacting nega-

tively about the World

Cup. Just yesterday in fact, the

first day of ticket sales, saw

207,649 sold for the competi-

tion via the internet throughout

the world, The United

States were one of the

biggest buyers, with

20,981 purchased.

People wanting tickets

have until as late as

April 15th, which is

classed as the final

ticket day in the FIFA

sales calendar.

Pelé labelled traitor and is target of anti-World Cup protest

Pele has taken heavy criticism over his role as World Cup ambassador

Pele was

targeted with

a banner

claiming he

was traitor of

the century

David Cartlidge

Report

SPORT QATARFRIDAY


Court is shown graphic photos of Pistorius’ blood-splattered home TRIAL Graphic photos of Oscar Pistorius’ blood-splattered home

were presented at his trial with the prosecution arguing that the

nightmare scene showed he and Reeva Steenkamp fought before

she died. The prosecution used police pictures to follow a trail

of blood from the entrance hall where Steenkamp’s lifeless body

lay covered, up the stairs to the toilet where she was shot. In

the blood-soaked bathroom a pistol lay wrapped in a grey towel

beside an iPhone. The prosecution argues the 27-year-old runner

shot his girlfriend in a fit of rage following an argument.

Fenninger assured of women’s ski titleALPINE SKIING Austria’s Anna

Fenninger took the women’s

Alpine skiing overall World Cup

title taking advantage of the

injury suffered by Maria Hoefl-

Riesch. Fenninger was second

in the super-G at Lenzerheide,

won by Switzerland’s Lara Gut,

but with just a slalom and giant

slalom left, the Austrian cannot

now be caught.

Fife set for Scotland debut in Six Nations finaleRUGBY Edinburgh wing

Dougie Fife is set to make

his Scotland debut in their

Six Nations finale against

Wales at Cardiff’s Millennium

Stadium on Saturday. Fife, 23,

replaces the injured Tommy

Seymour (ankle) on the right

wing in one of three changes

to the starting XV announced

by coach Scott Johnson.

Betancur takes Paris-Nice stage, Thomas keeps yellow

CYCLING Carlos Betancur

claimed the 152.5km fifth

stage of the Paris-Nice race

on Thursday but Geraint Tho-

mas did enough to hang on

to the leader’s yellow jersey.

Colombian Betancur, of the

AG2R team, was part of a

three-man breakaway that

opened a gap on the peloton

9km from home.

Pelucchi wins stage, ‘Cav’ still in Tirreno lead

CYCLING Italian Matteo Pelucchi pipped French spinter Arnaud

Demare to win the second stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico, with

Mark Cavendish retaining the overall lead of the Italian stage

race Thursday. While Cavendish missed the final sprint, Pelucchi

caused a minor upset by beating a host of bigger-name rivals, in-

cluding Demare and German Andre Greipel, to take his fifth career

win. A late crash before the final sprint took down several riders,

including German stage contender Marcel Kittel.

In brief...

Kevin Anderson handed

Australian Open cham-

pion Stanislas Wawrin-

ka his first defeat of

2014 on Wednesday to

reach the quarter-finals of the In-

dian Wells ATP Masters. South Af-

rica’s Anderson beat Wawrinka 7-6

(7/1), 4-6, 6-1 to end Wawrinka’s

run of 13 straight match wins to

open 2014, which included a title

run in Chennai, before his maiden

Grand Slam triumph in Melbourne.

“I knew it was going to happen

some time,” Wawrinka said. “I’m

not going to keep winning every

tournament.”

Two-time Grand Slam champion

Andy Murray, of Britain, was anoth-

er fourth-round casualty, falling 4-6,

7-5, 6-3 to big-serving Canadian

Milos Raonic. But second seed

Novak Djokovic turned round the

challenge of in-form Croatian Marin

Cilic, rallying for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 vic-

tory. “It was very tough,” said Djok-

ovic, who posted his eighth victory

over Cilic in as many meetings.

“Marin was by far the better

player in the first 45 minutes. He

was striking the ball incredibly

well. I just tried to stay calm and

composed and believe that I could

come back.”

Djokovic next faces French-

Wawrinka and Murray toppled at Indian Wells

South Africa’s Kevin Anderson defeated Wawrinka and big-serving Canadian Raonic finish off Murray

TENNIS Djokovic and Federer reach quarter-finals

man Julien Benneteau, who beat

Spain’s Feliciano López 6-3, 7-6

(7/4). Wawrinka’s exit ended the

possibility of an all-Swiss quarter-

final between him and Roger Fe-

derer. Instead Anderson will face

Federer, a four-time champion in

the California desert who edged

German veteran Tommy Haas 6-

4, 6-4.

RADWANSKA IN SEMI-FINALS

Second seed Agnieszka Radwan-

ska, of Poland, reached the semi-

finals of the Indian Wells hardcourt

tournament on Wednesday with a

three-set win over Jelena Jankovic.

Radwanska triumphed 7-5, 2-6, 6-4

over the former world number one

from Serbia, who won the title back

in 2010.

News

Murray was beaten by South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, in three sets // AFP

St.Louis named to host US-France tieFrance and the United States will meet next month at St. Louis

in the Fed Cup world group play-off, the US Tennis Association

announced Thursday. The match between top women’s players

will be staged on April 19-20, on an indoor hardcourt at St. Louis

University’s Chaifetz Arena. The winners qualify for next year’s Fed

Cup world group while the losers are relegated to the second tier.

Anderson will

now meet Federer,

and Djokovic takes

on Benneteau

SPORT QATAR

Director: Joan Vehils.

Assistant Directors: Joan Mª Batlle and Lluís Mascaró.

Subdirector and General coordinator: Albert Masnou.

Director Gerente: Antonio Pujol.

Director of Production: Mario Moya.

LOQMAN

Managing Director: José Díaz Villa.

Technical Manager: Carmen Álvarez Bermejo.

P.R.& Advertising Director: Samar Abou-Farah.

Regional Manager: Fatima Zohra Hamed Layasi.

Marketing Manager: Tariq Al-Taie.

GRUPO ZETA

Founder: ANTONIO ASENSIO PIZARRO

President: Antonio Asensio Mosbah.

President of the Executive Committee: Juan Llopart.

General Director: Conrado Carnal.

Editorial director and Communications: Miguel Angel Liso.

Editorial deparment: [email protected] Office: Palm Tower, 6 floor, office 606 Doha (Qatar) Advertising: [email protected] Administration: [email protected]

Phone: + 974 44729932 Fax: + 974 44726822

SPORT QATAR

Director: Joan Vehils.

Assistant Directors: Joan Mª Batlle and Lluís Mascaró.

Subdirector and General coordinator: Albert Masnou.

Director Gerente: Antonio Pujol.

Director of Production: Mario Moya.

LOQMAN

Managing Director: José Díaz Villa.

Technical Manager: Carmen Álvarez Bermejo.

P.R.& Advertising Director: Samar Abou-Farah.

Regional Manager: Fatima Zohra Hamed Layasi.

Marketing Manager: Tariq Al-Taie.

GRUPO ZETA

Founder: ANTONIO ASENSIO PIZARRO

President: Antonio Asensio Mosbah.

President of the Executive Committee: Juan Llopart.

General Director: Conrado Carnal.

Editorial director and Communications: Miguel Angel Liso.

Editorial deparment: [email protected] Office: Palm Tower, 6 floor, office 606 Doha (Qatar) Advertising: [email protected] Administration: [email protected]

Phone: + 974 44729932 Fax: + 974 44726822

SPORT QATAR 13SportsFRIDAYMarch 14, 2014

A return to turbocharged

engines, a limit on fuel

and new energy recov-

ery systems are among

a number of significant

rule changes which look set to

shake up the new Formula One

season. The sport is pushing the

boundaries of hybrid technology in

a move that is likely to benefit road

car design, and means that 2014’s

F1 machines will run races on 35

percent less fuel than last season.

F1 revolution is hA new championship is about to begin marked by major changes as a result of technical regulations

Turbocharged engines are back

for the first time since 1988, with

last year’s 2.4-litre V8s replaced

by 1.6-litre V6s, and energy recov-

ery systems (ERS) instead of the

previous kinetic energy recovery

systems (KERS).

The new ERS will offer twice the

power of KERS, and consequently

any ERS failure during a race will

have a much bigger impact on per-

formance than it did under KERS.

The driver no longer has to push a

button to activate ERS - the pow-

er is simply delivered to the rear

wheels via the throttle pedal with

help from the car’s electronics. In

another form of energy harvesting,

cars will also use two separate Mo-

tor Generator Units, which convert

mechanical and heat energy to

electrical energy and vice versa.

Perhaps the most significant

rule change in this year’s F1 is

the introduction of a fuel limit.

Each car will be allowed to use a

maximum of

100 kilos (ap-

proximately

135 l i t res) ,

representing

around two-

thirds of the

loads carried

previously. As

a result, driv-

ing styles and

tac t i cs w i l l

have to adapt

with fuel con-

servation par-

amount. In a further change for the

teams, F1 cars will have eight for-

ward gears for the first time. The

gear ratios have been selected

during pre-season and will have to

be used for the whole season.

Each gearbox must now last six

consecutive races instead of the

previous five. Italian tyre-makers

Pirelli have been contracted by the

sport’s governing body the Interna-

tional Automobile

Federation (FIA)

to supply F1 cars

for the next three

years.

Fo l lowing a

turbulent 2013

season, it was

announced late

last year that

Pirelli would re-

main as the sole

supplier of tyres

for the F1 circuit.

The announce-

ment that the agreement will stand

for the next three years, further

underlines the FIA’s confidence

that Pirelli can iron out the safety

problems that dogged them last

year.

Last season was marred by a

succession of tyre blow-outs, cul-

minating at the British Grand Prix

at Silverstone which was almost

halted mid-race due to the number

of incidents. Among the teams,

Mercedes and McLaren appeared

to have adapted the best to the

new regulations during pre-season

testing while Red Bull and four-

time world champion Sebastian

Vettel struggled.

RED BULL PROBLEMS

Vettel endured a tough final test-

ing session in Bahrain when there

were problems with the new Red

Bull car. On one day, the German

failed to complete a single lap due

to electrical issues and problems

with the car’s Renault engine. Re-

nault are powering four teams in

the 2014 F1 championship -- Red

Bull, Toro Rosso, Lotus and Cat-

erham.

Away from the garages, one sig-

nificant and controversial change

is the decision to award double

points for the final race of the sea-

son in Abu Dhabi on November 23.

F1 revolution is here.

NEW S PEC IF I C ATIONS

Recovery fuel

system

2013

KER S (8 0 HP/6 sec)

2014

ER S (1 6 0 HP/3 0 sec)

Fuel capacity

2013

unlimited

2014

limited to 1 0 0 kilos

(1 40 litres aprox.)

Motor

2013

2.4 litres V8

750 HP

2014

1 .6 litres V6 turbo

6 0 0 HP

S ergi Mejías

Analysis

Atmospheric

V8 engines are

replaced now by more

efficient turbo V6

The electrical power

gains importance

with the new ERS

system recovery

All changes from 2013 to 2014

SPORT QATARFRIDAY

March 14, 201414 Motor Sport

ere

Lowest ‘Nose’ and thinnest

spoiler

Aerodynamics

Time for show

to hit the road

W e have been writing and

talking about the up-

coming Formula 1 season and

the impact of the new regula-

tions on the sport for some

time, and it finally begins this

Sunday in Australia. It is the

moment of truth. I must admit

that I am looking forward to

Melbourne, seeing who is the

quickest in qualifying and how

many cars finish a race which

is predicted to be chaotic. The

track will, once again, be deci-

sive in who is right and wrong.

Dear reader, we want the show

to begin. Apparently Mercedes

have done their homework bet-

ter this winter, but no one re-

ally knows for sure how each

will compete until we are un-

derway as times can be eas-

ily masked by fuel load, used

tyres or simply easing the foot

on the pedal. It’s the moment

of truth, the moment to see

the impact of the significant

changes, and if Ferrari re-

ally is going to be a rival for

Mercedes or if Red Bull will

remain in the mire.

Moment of truth The track in the end will shed the light after a winter full of doubts

In boxesboxesIn booxees

Josep Viaplana

15Motor SportSPORT QATARFRIDAYMarch 14, 2014

Hamilton rejects completely Mercedes ‘favourites’ tag

Mercedes dr iver

Lewis Hamilton

has played down

his team’s “favour-

ites” tag ahead of

the season-opening Australian

Formula One Grand Prix Sunday,

saying technical changes make

any predictions worthless. The

Briton and his teammate Nico

Rosberg have enjoyed the fast-

est times in off-season testing,

leading many to tip Mercedes

as the car to beat going into the

Melbourne race.

But the 2008 champion is

not sure Mercedes warrants all

the hype as

he prepares

for today’s

o p e n i n g

p r a c t i c e

sess i ons

at the A l -

ber t Par k

circuit. “All

the media

are talking

us up. Favourite driver, favourite

team,” Hamilton told reporters

on Thursday. “I just don’t know

what’s going to happen this

weekend,” he added.

Hamilton said a raft of sig-

nificant rule changes including a

return to turbocharged engines,

a limit on fuel and new energy re-

covery systems meant it was hard

to say which car would come out on

top. “It’s very technical this year.

Everybody is in the same boat,”

the 29-year-old said. “There are

lots of us trying to find where the

advantages can be.” Hamilton, who

finished fourth in last season’s

drivers championship, added that

“It’s very technical this year,” said the 29-year-old Mercedes driver. “Everybody is in the same boat”

he was still getting used to the set-

up of this year’s Mercedes. “Last

year’s car felt better, it was nicer to

drive and we had a lot more down-

force and that was the car that was

in its fourth year of evolution,” he

said. “Now we are in a new phase

and it’s something that takes some

time to get used to.”

The Briton

and Nico

Rosberg

have enjoyed

the fastest

timesHamilton was cautious about Mercedes options in Australia // AFP

“Little will change,” says AlonsoFerrari’s Fernando Alonso, whose

views are at variance with those

of many of his rivals, believes

that in reality little will change. “I

don’t think it will be a big differ-

ence compared to the previous

years, especially when Pirelli ar-

rived in F1,” he says. “We have

been managing the tyres a lot be-

cause of high degradation. Now

we will manage the tyres, we will

manage a little bit the batteries

(in the Energy Recovery System

or ERS) and the fuel consump-

tion - but all in the same way. It

will be hard to see on TV for the

spectators when we are saving

two or three tenths of a second,

or even from the grandstand. If

we save three tenths of

a second on one lap, at

one particular grandstand

we save half of one tenth

- so if someone can rec-

ognise when we are sav-

ing fuel they are quite

expert! “The acceleration

and torque delivery from

the power unit is a little

bit different, the gear us-

age is a little bit different compared

to the past and all these tools we

have available this year, we need

to maximise in a different way and

need to learn a couple of things. But

this is a motorsport competition.

When the green light is on nothing

will change in terms of adrenaline,

over takes, strategy,

driver management, or

tyre saving. Things will

be very, very similar to

last year when the green

light is on.”

Alonso finished 155

points behind Vettel last

year in an inferior car, but

the 31-year-old Spaniard

is widely respected as

the sport’s finest all-round driver.

Last season, Alonso only won two

races, in China and Spain, but with

the arrival of fellow former world

champion Kimi Raikkonen as his

new team-mate, he is under inter-

nal as well as external pressure to

produce the goods.

“Things will

be very, very

similar to last

year when

the green

light is on”

Massa set for Schumacher tribute Felipe Massa will display a message

of support for Michael Schumacher

at Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix,

the first Formula One race since

a skiing accident left the German

legend fighting for his life. The Bra-

zilian driver, a former teammate of

Schumacher’s with Ferrari, has said

he will drive with the initials “MS”

emblazoned on his helmet for the

season opener in Melbourne. Seven-

time world champion Schumacher

remains in a medically induced coma

since hitting his head on a rock while

skiing at the French resort of Mer-

ibel on December 29. The 45-year-

old is showing “small, encouraging

signs” of recovery, his family said

on Wednesday, while acknowledging

that he faces a long battle ahead.

FORMER TEAMMATE

Ronaldo and Messi ready to be burned at the FallasVisitors to the Fallas celebration in Valencia inspecting Ninots, figures of Real Madrid’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo (L) and

Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi, on March 13. The football players will be burned in the streets of Valencia along with

other figures as part of the yearly Fallas in March. It is a tribute to Saint Joseph, the patron saint of the Guild of Carpenters.

SPORT QATARFRIDAY

March 14, 201416 Shot of the Day

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