Klinsmann shuts door on Chelsea job to join German TV

BERLIN: Former Germany boss Juergen Klinsmann has accepted a job with German TV, apparently ruling himself out of becoming coach of English Premiership champions Chelsea, a report said yesterday.

Klinsmann will work for as an analyst and commentator for pay-TV channel Arena for the next two years, Bild newspaper reported.

He will fly to Germany from his home in California for major Bundesliga games, the report said.

“I had many offers after the World Cup to return to Europe, but Arena is the first partner that has really won me over,” Klinsmann said, quoted by Bild.

It has been reported this month that Chelsea’s billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich has approached Klinsmann with a view to him replacing Jose Mourinho, but the Portuguese coach appears to have patched up his differences with Abramovich.

Klinsmann, 42, led host nation Germany to the semi-finals of last year’s World Cup, moulding a young and relatively unfancied squad into an exciting attacking team.

But he stepped down immediately after the tournament, saying he did not want to uproot his family and his American wife from the United States.

As a player, Klinsmann helped Germany win the 1990 World Cup and played for Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Tottenham. – AFP

Mahela’s men star with bat and ball to down Kiwis in semi-finals

KINGSTON: Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene scored a match-winning century but handed the credit to his bowling attack after Tuesday’s 81-run victory over New Zealand in the World Cup semi-finals.

Off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan took four wickets to rip the heart out of the New Zealand middle-order after paceman Lasith Malinga returned from his injury layoff with an outstanding opening spell.

Muralitharan grabbed three wickets in six balls to leave the Kiwis looking clueless against his cunning spin.

“When you have a guy like that you know that your wicket-taking options are better,” said the skipper, who hit an unbeaten 115 in his team’s total of 289 for five.

“But he is a human as well, he can’t do it all the time. He comes up with some really good efforts for us though.

“With him, Lasith and (Chaminda) Vaas I think I have better options now and obviously as a captain that is a good position to be in.”

While Muralitharan’s spell turned the game in Sri Lanka’s direction, Malinga had set the tone with a wicket-maiden in his first over. He claimed the scalp of New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming.

Malinga had missed Sri Lanka’s last three Super Eights matches due to an ankle injury but Jayawardene said he was not at all taken aback by his opening bowler’s return.

“I wasn’t surprised. The guy has been putting in a lot of effort and he was very upset that he wasn’t playing, wasn’t part of the team,” he said.

“In the last two practice sessions we saw him looking really eager and he was doing things that he has done before.

“He has a big heart and he has improved quite a lot as a cricketer in the last 12 months and I think his hard work has paid off.”

The vital wicket of Scott Styris, who was looking threatening on 37, came not from one of Sri Lanka’s frontline bowlers but back-up man Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Jayawardene said that surprise allowed him to turn the heat on New Zealand.

“Once the field went back after the Powerplays I thought I could sneak in maybe four or five overs but I never expected Dilshan to pick up a wicket that early,” he said.

“That was a bonus, once we got that Murali came and asked me ‘shall we have a go at the batsmen for a few overs and try and pick up a few wickets?’

“That was a good time for us to put pressure on New Zealand and he picked up two wickets in that next over so everything worked pretty well. Nothing was planned, everything just happened so quickly.”

Fleming, who announced after the match that he was standing down as one-day captain, acknowledged his side had been second-best.

“We certainly didn’t play well enough I felt we were outclassed at key moments.

“But I am proud of where we got to even if we wanted to go one further,” he said. – Reuters

Werder Bremen look to stem Spanish tide in UEFA Cup

PARIS: Werder Bremen’s Champions League elimination by Barcelona could be met by a measure of revenge today when they face Barca’s city rivals Espanyol in a UEFA Cup semi-final first leg clash.

The German side are the only non-Spanish team in the last four – holders Sevilla take on Osasuna in the other semi – but are in prime form as their 3-1 win in the league last Friday kept them within two points of leaders Schalke 04.

Werder’s outstanding German international midfielder Torsten Frings believes that the 1992 Cup Winners’ Cup winners are capable of beating anyone, and certainly the manner in which they demolished Dutch League leaders AZ Alkmaar in the quarter-finals lends his theory credence.

“We can beat any club in Europe,” Frings told Uefa.com.

Rooney powers United to slim win

MANCHESTER: Wayne Rooney scored twice including a stoppage-time winner to give Manchester United a thrilling 3-2 victory over AC Milan in their Champions League semi-final, first leg on Tuesday.

Rooney pulled United back into the match when he levelled the score at 2-2 after 59 minutes and his winner gives United a narrow advantage to take into the second leg in Milan next Wednesday, although Milan will fancy their chances thanks to their two away goals.

Becks sets up win for Real

MADRID: David Beckham returned from a six-week injury absence to set up Real Madrid’s winner in a 2-1 victory over Primera Liga title rivals Valencia at the Bernabeu on Saturday.

Ruud van Nistelrooy scored with a spectacular volley to put Real in front before Fernando Morientes levelled against his former club soon after the break.

Real climbed to second in the table on 57 points, two behind leaders Barcelona. Valencia are fourth on 53 points.

Real Sociedad kept up their chances of avoiding relegation with a 2-0 home win over Atletico Madrid.

Serbian striker Darko Kovacevic poked in Savio’s cross for the opener before Brazilian forward Savio made it 2-0 with a volley six minutes from time.

Atletico had midfielder Peter Luccin and defender Fabiano Eller sent off in the second half.

The Basque side, who claimed their third win in four, remained second bottom with 27 points, three from safety. Atletico stayed sixth with 50.

Real showed more desire to get forward early at the Bernabeu and took the lead after a sweeping move in the 18th minute.

Put clear down the left, fullback Miguel Torres crossed and Dutch striker Van Nistelrooy lashed in a volley from the edge of the area.

Real midfielder Fernando Gago was lucky to be on the pitch at half-time.

Having already received a yellow card, the Argentine’s mistimed tackle on Miguel went unpunished before the interval.

Winger Joaquin created the equaliser for Valencia in the 52nd minute, beating his man down the right and crossing low for an unmarked Morientes to steer the ball inside the far post.

Beckham came on as a substitute in the 65th minute and eight minutes later his free-kick set up Ramos’ winner.

Real went close to adding a third through Van Nistelrooy and Robinho, though goalkeeper Iker Casillas had to be sharp to push out an Asier del Horno volley near the end. – Reuters

Federer: Playing Nadal makes me improve

MONTE CARLO: Roger Federer still enjoys playing Rafael Nadal even though he has now lost his five meetings against the Spaniard on clay.

The world number one believes he improves on the slow surface every time he takes on the double French Open champion, who beat him 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters Series on Sunday.

“It's good for me to play against him. He sometimes makes me improve my backhand. I think that problem is solved for me,” Federer said.

“Today I started to miss on the forehand but, look, again, it can happen over a few minutes that you're going to have a downfall on one of your shots.

“Again, you should try to avoid it, and that's going to make you practise and make you a better player. I enjoy playing against him and I think (it is) the same for him.

“We can improve playing against each other,” added Federer, who made 19 unforced errors on his forehand.

“Mistakes, (a) few too many, I guess. I'm not happy about the performance of my forehand. Rarely it happens to me, because it's my best shot in the game. I guess it's a bit different against Rafael.

“You've got to keep on pushing and I just missed a few too many to go a break down in the first set.”

Federer was defeated by Nadal in last year's final in the principality before being beaten at the Rome Masters Series. The Swiss then handed Nadal his second French Open crown in Paris.

However, Federer had few regrets about Sunday's final.

“I should have used the chances when I had them early on,” he said. “Unfortunately it turned around with a few mistakes. But I feel this match gave me some information.

“I think I'm absolutely in the mix with him on clay, which is how I wanted to feel. You know, it's always disappointing to lose but I feel like I didn't play well and still it was close. That's a good thing.” – Reuters

Chelsea bid for revenge against Liverpool

LONDON: Chelsea are the odd one out in the Champions League semi-finals – they have never won a European title.

The Blues will have an eye on revenge when they host Liverpool in the first leg tomorrow.

Liverpool’s run to a victorious final against Milan two seasons ago hinged on a much-disputed goal by Luis Garcia, the only one of their two semi-final legs against Chelsea.

Many Blues fans still believe Garcia’s strike did not cross the line at Anfield and see this season’s meetings as a chance to set the record straight.

In the Premier League this season, Chelsea beat Liverpool 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in September courtesy of a wonder strike by Ivorian Didier Drogba but lost 2-0 at Anfield in January.

In the build-up to the first leg, Liverpool defeated Wigan 2-0 at Anfield off two goals from Dirk Kuyt on Saturday. Manager Rafa Benitez decided not to start captain Steven Gerrard in a league game for the first time in a year, instead inserting him for the last 30 minutes.

“This was the ideal situation,” Benitez said. “We wanted a good game, a good result, to score a few and control the game. We wanted to rest some players like Steven Gerrard and we didn’t want any injuries. In the end it was almost perfect.”

Jose Mourinho cannot say the same about his lead-up to tomorrow’s game. The Chelsea coach had the chance to close the gap to Manchester United in the Premier League to one point by defeating Newcastle on Sunday. Instead, Chelsea drew 0-0.

“All of our players are ready,’’ Benitez said. “We do not fear Chelsea, but we have respect for them and also confidence. In a competition like this, everyone is motivated – it will be a tough game for everyone.”

All four coaches in the semi-finals have won a Champions League title before – Alex Ferguson with United in 1999, Benitez with Liverpool in 2005 and Carlo Ancelotti with Milan in 2003. Mourinho won the Champions League with FC Porto in 2004. None of them are English. – Agencies