Ronnie link excites Terry

Chelsea captain John Terry has admitted he is excited by the possibility of Ronaldinho joining him at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues have been linked with a British record £50million raid on Barcelona to sign the Brazil international.

Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has reportedly held meetings with the player's representatives and Terry would love to see the double world player of the year join him in the Stamford Bridge dressing room.

"It was exciting seeing the link with him and it would be a great acquisition to get a player of that ability in," the England captain told The Sun.

"He would give us an option if he does come and it would be great for the Premier League to have a player like Ronaldinho here.

"He was close to going to Manchester United a few years ago but, for me personally and for everyone at Chelsea, it would be great to have him with us.

"I'd like to think he could fit into the team, though he'd have to learn about the defensive duties expected of everyone.

"Once you've realised that it's about a team and defending as well, you can attack as well and he can give us something that not many in the world can give us.

"I suppose if he's doing what he's so good at going forward, then perhaps the manager will let him off a little bit at the back, but we'd have to see."

Benitez hails Reds' quality

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez believes his squad now has 'quality in every position' following their 4-0 Champions League qualifying victory over Toulouse.

Dirk Kuyt grabbed a brace and further strikes from Peter Crouch and Sami Hyypia gave a much-changed Reds line-up a comfortable 5-0 aggregate passage to the group stages of Europe's premier club competition.


RAFA BENITEZ Benitez gave a surprise debut to Argentinian youngster Sebastian Leto in midfield, while Brazilian teenager Lucas Leiva also made his bow with just over 20 minutes remaining.

"I was very pleased with the performance, we played well and you can see the competition now for places with players working to impress right to the end," he said.

"I know Peter Crouch has been out of the last two games and he has now scored eight in his last 10 games in Europe.

"But if the team keeps winning and everyone else scores goals as well, I will be happy.

"I was able to bring in (Yossi) Benayoun, (Sebastian) Leto and Lucas (Leiva) for this game and they all did well.

"You can see the quality in every position. I have two players to choose from now for every place and the players know that.

"I now do not need to talk a lot about one or two star players all the time. I have players everywhere who want to play and have the ability to play."

Benitez is on a one-man mission to drag Liverpool to greater heights.

LIVERPOOL FC have walked into a raging storm with no guarantee of a golden sky at the end of the turbulence and quite a few supporters have spotted the parallels between this season and that which saw the last of Gerard Houllier. After securing a unique treble of Cups – the FA, League and Uefa – in Season 2000/01, the Frenchman was poised to lead an aggressive charge towards the title and it did materialise with the Reds coming second to Arsenal with a seven-point gap in the following campaign.

The defining moment then arrived as Liverpool struggled to scale the heights of the previous term and ended up 19 points behind Man United and missed out on a Champions League ticket. Season 2003/04 was largely seen as one which would make-or-mar Houllier's tenure at the club and even though the Reds scrambled on to the last berth to Europe's premier competition, it was time for the club to bid au revoir to the Frenchman. Underlying Houllier's swansong season and a virtual constant throughout that period was the grumble that Liverpool were no longer acting as one of the Premier League's heavy hitters.

Leading the call for the club to embrace the desire to reclaim their past glory then was none other than club captain Steven Gerrard, who was approaching the throes of his love-hate relationship with the Reds.

It was quite clear that Gerrard was not particularly pleased with the footballers that Houllier brought to the club to fulfill the assignment of recapturing the league championship. Between 2000 and 2004, Houllier splurged £77.5mil on an assortment of players patently not fit to wear the club's colours and handed them over to his successor Rafael Benitez.

The Spaniard turned wastewater into vintage wine in his first season at Anfield with the club's fifth European Cup and bagged the FA Cup along the way as he rebuilt the squad. Another significant development last season was the reduced gap between Liverpool and champions Chelsea, which was down to nine points but expanded to an embarrassing 21 points (against champions Man United) this season. In place of a disgruntled Gerrard is Benitez and his now infamous rant on the club possessing neither the wherewithal nor willingness to back his drive to return Liverpool to the pedestal of English and European football on a consistent basis.

A section of the critics view Benitez's outburst as a convenient cloak to conceal himself in the aftermath of a match that was there for the taking in Athens but which the Reds failed to do so. Anyone who is familiar with Benitez, however, would argue that an attack on the club's transfer policy and lack of urgency in moving in on targeted players was inevitable but would have been couched in softer terms had the Reds buried AC Milan in the Champions League final. The management downplaying any fears that Benitez would not have the board backing him in the transfer market aggravated the precarious situation.

Make or break for England

England, and in particular their manager Steve McClaren, face a make or break test against Estonia in Tallinn today.

Victories for their three main Euro 2008 qualification rivals on Saturday left England fourth in Group E and trailing leaders Croatia by five points.

Worse still, Israel and Russia are both three points ahead of one of the continent’s traditionally strong teams - and England have looked anything but that during this qualification campaign.

With their three rivals also playing today, England are desperate for three points from their trip to thus far winless, pointless and goalless Estonia.

Anything else would almost certainly signal the end of McClaren’s year in the England hot-seat, and quite probably England’s hopes of making the European Championship in Austria and Switzerland next year.

So desperate is England, and McClaren’s, situation that the manager was forced to go back on his decision to drop David Beckham from his thinking since the end of last year’s World Cup.

“Beckham did very well against Brazil,” said midfielder Frank Lampard. “He has always got that killer ball he can put into the danger area from free-kicks which can make a goal. There was also a nice balance across the midfield. He was very disciplined on the right and was supplying good balls.”

McClaren seems likely to leave the midfield untouched, with Lampard and Steven Gerrard together in the middle, flanked by Beckham and Joe Cole, but he hinted there could be a change up front, with Peter Crouch replacing Alan Smith as a partner for Michael Owen.

“I said before the Brazil game that wasn’t necessarily the team for Estonia,” McClaren said. “We’ll have to look at certain things and digest it and maybe it will be different.”

Should England win their qualification hopes could look a lot rosier come Thursday morning as Croatia and Russia play each other in Zagreb.

Points dropped by any rivals would be welcome news for McClaren. – AFP

Carragher and Gerrard sign new deals with Reds

Liverpool pair Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have signed new contracts which will keep them at the club until 2011, the club announced on their website on Monday.

Captain Gerrard, 27, and his deputy Carragher, 29 took a break from preparing for England's Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia to pen the new four-year deals at Anfield on Monday afternoon.

The two home-grown stalwarts of Rafael Benitez's Liverpool team had two years remaining on their previous contracts, signed after the club's Champions League triumph of 2005.

After reaching the Champions League final again last month, Gerrard says the aim now is to translate their European success on to the domestic stage.

“I'm just pleased to get it out of the way and we can look forward to next season now,” said Gerrard, who has set his sights on ending Liverpool's 17-year wait for the domestic championship. – Reuters

Ronaldinho needs to train more, says coach Dunga

Brazil forward Ronaldinho has been told by his national coach Dunga to improve his fitness levels if he wants to regain the mantle of the world’s best player.

“Kaka is the best player at the moment, Ronaldinho has the capability to return to the top and Robinho could be up there,” Dunga was quoted as telling Catalunya Radio in the Spanish media yesterday.

“Ronaldinho lacks pace at present. He lacks that initial burst of speed that allows him to get away from rivals.”

The 27-year-old Barcelona player has been criticised by fans and the Spanish media for being overweight, out of shape and missing training sessions during the Primera Liga season.

Although he has been inconsistent, he is the side’s top scorer with 20 goals.

“He has to train more. A Ronaldinho at peak fitness is impossible to stop as seen last year. Technically he is better than the rest,” Dunga added.

Ronaldinho has asked to be left out of Brazil’s squad for the Copa America starting later this month, to be able to rest and prepare for next season without interruption.

Barca are level on points with leaders Real Madrid in the league, but second due to their inferior head-to-head record with two games left.

Ronaldinho is suspended for Barcelona’s home game against Espanyol on Saturday after being sent off against Getafe, and will be able return for the final game of the season against relegated side Gimnastic Tarragona. – Reuters

Peru score a win against Ecuador in friendly

Peru recorded a morale-boosting 2-1 win over South American neighbours Ecuador in a Copa America warm-up match on Sunday.

Peru took the lead after only five minutes with their first attack of the game when a low cross from the right was laid back to the edge of the area for PSV Eindhoven forward Jefferson Farfan to drill home.

But they only held the lead for five minutes before Ecuador's Christian Benitez was tripped in the area for a penalty and the experienced Carlos Tenorio made no mistake from the spot.

Ecuador had a goal ruled out for offside in the 21st minute, but, despite their suspect defence, it was Peru who continued to look the sharpest.

Goalkeeper Daniel Viteri saved point-blank from Peruvian striker Andres Mendoza in the 29th minute and Farfan blasted into the side-netting just before half-time.

Six minutes after the restart, Peru restored their lead when Farfan's free-kick skimmed off the head of Ecuador defender Ulises de la Cruz, hit the base of the post and squirmed across the line into his own net.

Ecuador pressed hard but struggled to create clear openings and Benitez missed his side's best chance of an equaliser, heading wide with only the goalkeeper to beat near the end.

The two sides meet again tomorrow with a second warm-up match against Peru in Barcelona.

The Copa America kicks off on June 26. Peru have been drawn in Group A with hosts Venezuela, Bolivia and Uruguay, while Ecuador are in Group B with Brazil, Mexico and Chile.